Super Easy Oreo Balls Recipe .. Guest Post by Mary of Eat Drink & Be Mary

Hey y'all. I'm so excited to be taking over for Daniela today.  I'm Mary the girl behind the blog Eat Drink & Be Mary.  The place where I share the "looks" that have shaped my life, how I struggle with patience, and of course recipes I have tried and LOVE.  But enough about me, and more about what I'm super excited to share with y'all today.

Have you ever been told to bring a dessert to a party but didn't know what to bring?  Are you in love with party foods that are portion-sized and don't need any utensils or plates?  Do you love no-bake recipes?  Then I'm your girl, and I've got the recipe for you. 

Super EASY, No-Bake Oreo Balls.  A recipe with three ingredients, no baking, & you end up with the YUMMIEST, bite sized party food your friends are family will love.  Seriously these are addicting, I dare you to eat one and NOT stuff your face with two or ten three more.  

Birthday Cake Popcorn

Happy Monday, friends! I hope you all had a wonderful Mother's Day weekend. If you missed my post about Mother's Day, you can view it > HERE < !  I woke up to a giant bag of candy from Dylan's Candy Bar {from my husband's work trip this past weekend}, so I was a pretty happy momma. Plus, lots of daddy-encouraged Ava hugs & kisses for me, too. I got to have dinner with my mom and sisters and celebrate all kinds of motherhood, so it was a wonderful day.

Today, I'm sharing with you an EASY and DELICIOUS recipe for a new twist on popcorn. Birthday Cake Popcorn! I just LOVE birthday cake in any form - cake, ice cream, candy - you name it - I'm eating it. This popcorn is easy to make and the best part is that it actually has real cake mix in the batter. YUM! The photo below is an easy to save recipe photo that could easily be printed as a 4x6 recipe card. Just right click > SAVE > PRINT. Enjoy this yum yum treat {no birthday required}. :)

xo

Don't forget to enter to win a $550 Amazon gift card!! > HERE < 

Burlap Bunny Treat Bags for Easter + Free Printable Bunny Stencil

Happy Friday! I've been thinking ALL DAY today was Saturday, because my husband gets work off for Good Friday, so it feels like a Saturday. It's been throwing me off in a major way. I even started typing the beginning of this post with a "Happy Saturday! Yes - I'm posting on Saturday..." message, but then, thankfully, realized I was talking loco and checked myself before I wrecked myself.

Easter is in two days, people!!!!! Easter has always been one of my most favorite holidays as a kid. We would (sometimes) get a new Easter dress to wear to church. We always had an indoor Easter egg hunt and an outdoor one. The indoor hunt consisted of my parents going downstairs and closing the door at the top of the stairs. They would hide all the candy (with some of the floor for the littles) and us kids would wait excitedly at the top of the stairs for my parents to push little jellybeans under the door - you always wanted to be the first to grab that candy! Those little beans coming under the door is a memory I will cherish forever. :)

I've got a fun Easter DIY tutorial for you that I shared last week on Creative Ramblings. These mini burlap treat bags are a great last minute idea, if you need something for your kids on Sunday or to take to church or a party! Read on to see how easily you can make these this weekend.

Supplies

Dairy Free Magic Cookie Bars

Guys. I'm going to tell you a secret! Shhhhh....come in close. Closer ... Closer ... There. Stop. Ready?

I CAN'T EAT DAIRY.

Did you already know that? Maybe. And when I say "can't" I should really say "shouldn't," because I actually do eat it. But, if I eat too much, it makes me sick. Boo. It's an intolerance - not an allergy - so I justify eating it that way! Ha ha. There are several things I will cheat for:  a Wendy's frosty, ravioli and a beefy 5 layer from Taco Bell. On an every day basis, though, I don't eat it. At my house, we drink soy & almond milk, eat dairy free cheese & butter, and ice cream is replaced with sorbet. It's a pretty simple life style change, really. You get super used to it {yes, when I first tried soy milk I wanted to BARF, but it's so good now, I honestly don't remember the taste of cow's milk!}.

The hardest part about being dairy free is the lack of yummy treats. It's not that they aren't out there, it's just that I don't ever make them! I do have a Dairy Free board on Pinterest, though, loaded with scrumdiddlyumptious treats I could make dairy free {you can follow it HERE}. I've learned over the years that it's pretty simple to substitute dairy free ingredients for "normal" ones to make most recipes dairy free - and they taste about the same - if not better! 

St. Patrick's Day Chocolate Cupcake Toppers

A couple weeks ago, I guest posted a holiday treat at My Paper Craze. Since St. Patrick's Day is just around the corner, I get to share this fun DIY with you! I made some super simple St. Patrick's Day chocolate cupcake toppers that would be a perfect addition to your holiday party, family dinner or treats to take to work!

Supplies

candy melts, green

shortening

wilton squeeze bottle

printed "stencil" paper

parchment or wax paper

{cupcakes, frosted & sprinkled}

Instructions

Melt candy melts according to package directions. Add about a tablespoon of shortening before melting. This helps make the chocolate creamy {otherwise, you risk getting lumps}.

Spoon melted chocolate into squeeze bottle. Prep stencil by placing a piece of parchment/wax paper over your stencil paper. {remember - your chocolate goes on the parchment/wax paper - not the printed paper}

Following the lines on the stencil, squeeze the chocolate onto the parchment/wax paper.

Click HERE to download my stencil

NOTE: THIS TIP IS SUPER SUPER SUPER SUPER IMPORTANT!! 

My Love Monday ... Recipe for How to Make a Perfect Dirty Diet Coke

Imagine it. You're drinking a diet coke. Everything should be perfect, correct? Wrong. Something is missing. A bag of peanut butter M&M's perhaps? Maybe. A Chris Pine look-alike sitting next to you? I suppose. But none of those things hit the spot. Then you realize what's missing: COCONUT & LIME. Yum. My friends, I am about to open up your mind to a whole new world of tropical coke bliss. The Dirty Diet Coke. Which is the star of today's My Love Monday. My recipe for the perfect dirty diet coke.

Now, when I posted on my Facebook that I was drinking my first dirty diet coke on Ava's birthday at 2:00pm, some of my friends got a little confused. In fact, it looked a little something like this:

As you can see in the comments, my dear friends thought their good girl Mormon friend, Dani, had finally come to her senses and was enjoying a little mid-afternoon pick me up, ha ha. But, no, I am still holding true to my LDS faith and enjoying a little su'm su'm different that makes my Cokes dirty.  No alcohol here. ;) {want to know why I choose a different kind of "dirty"? you can learn more HERE}

A dirty diet coke is quite simple. quite delicious. and quite addicting. i LOVE it. You can dirty up a Coke or a Dr. Pepper too, which I've tried, and personally only enjoy it with a diet coke. Enjoy your carbonated tropical getaway. I can only hope the Chris Pine part comes true for you, too.

pour 2 tablespoons coconut syrup into a glass

add ice 3/4 full

pour in one 12oz can diet coke

squeeze in 1/2 FRESH lime & add to glass

insert stripey straw

DONE!

That last step is especially important. ;)

I've read versions adding half & half, but I don't prefer it, so guess what? You don't get it in my recipe! The hub and I usually use a ginormous mason jar, which is probably twice the amount of this recipe, and now just estimate all our additions. Which makes it fun to get a little more coconut or lime each time. Like I said earlier, we are addicted, and you will be, too. It will definitely become your new LOVE. See you in dirty diet coke therapy. {oh and bring those peanut butter M&M's!}

tips

where to get coconut syrup | most grocery stores {in Utah: Orson Gygi in Salt Lake City, Harmon's, Macey's, World Market in Park City}

don't want the guilt while getting dirty? | use sugar free coconut syrup {where to buy? World Market!}

put the lime in the coke you nut and drink it all up | less is more! start with less coconut syrup & lime. remember - you can always add more, but you can't add less.

This DDC is hanging out with my Hand Painted Burlap Coasters, which you can find the tutorial for by clicking HERE!

I would love to hear how you like your DDC. Have you ever tried DDC before? Do you make other drinks dirty? What's your sweet drink addiction? Leave me a comment!

xo

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Peppermint Christmas Crack Recipe

Today was kind of crappy. And by "kind of" I mean a lot crappy. Just not my day. I'll spare you the details. Just know it was lame and everything was making me cry. Seriously, everything. I cried watching The Voice when a contestant sang with Celine Dion, because it was so emotional and beautiful. I cried watching Adam Levine say nice things about Ceelo. I cried reading Christmas baby books to Ava. I cried watching Ava play with a straw. So that should show you how everything {lame or not} was setting off the water works. 4:00 came around, and I was pretty tired of feeling sad and sorry for myself. So I decided to crank up the Christmas music, dance with my baby and make Christmas Crack. But not just any Christmas Crack -- peppermint Christmas Crack. Yep. I can say that crack got me out of my depressive state. And it all helped. Through my puffy eyes and sniffly nose, I made a scrumdiddlyumptious treat that my husband has been eating all night and saying, "Wow - it is SO good," with each bite. I now share it with you. So that on your terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day -- you can crank up the music and make your own Christmas Crack to lift your mood and make your spirits bright.

**One of my friends sent me the recipe. She got it off of Averie Cooks, who calls it Chocolate Saltine Toffee. {though not a peppermint version!}**

Peppermint Christmas Crack
makes one 9x13 pan

The Goods

• 32 saltines
• 1 cup butter
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 bag chocolate chips
• 1 bag Andes peppermint baking chips
• Other flavors of chips you may like

The Fun Part

*preheat oven to 350*

• Line your 9x13 pan with foil. Spray with cooking spray. Lay your saltines single-file on the bottom of the pan.
• In a pot on the stove, melt your butter and brown sugar. When it starts to boil, turn the heat down and simmer for about 3-5 minutes. I watch it and stir it constantly, because I don't want it to burn!
• After the few minutes, take it off the stove. Let it sit for about 30 seconds. Add vanilla and stir.
• Pour over saltines in pan. Use a spatula to swoosh it around, so everything is covered.
• Bake in the oven for 5-7 minutes until it looks yummy and bubbly.
• Take it out and let sit for a couple minutes.
• Sprinkle your chocolate chips on top. Let them hang out there, melting away into chocolatey goodness for about 4 minutes. Take your spatula and smooth the melty chocolate chips until it's all covered.
• Sprinkle your Andes peppermint chips on top {no swooshing around -- leave them!}. Use as much or as little as you'd like!
• Refrigerate for about an hour {can put in freezer, but mine was perfect for cracking after an hour in the fridge!}
• EAT
• SHARE {if there is any left}

I also made a peanut butter version. Omit the peppermint chips. When you sprinkle the chocolate chips on top, only use half of the bag and add half a bag of peanut butter chips. Smooth it all over after it's melted. Also very yum!

Even looking at the photos is making me happier.

Wouldn't that pair nicely with a dirty diet coke?

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