It's Almost Valentine's Day

I am pretty sure I have the flu.  I haven't had the official test, but both girls were diagnosed this week, and now I have all the symptoms.  I have a runny nose, sore throat, cough, fever, dizziness, and general weakness.  I can't sleep, because I can't breathe when I lay down, and I am so tired.  It's a good thing I thought ahead and bought Bob his gift last week.  There is no way I am dragging myself out of the house to shop this weekend.  I am giving myself permission to just relax and get better.

I don't know if Bob has even thought about Valentines day presents for me or the kids. I know he's not looking into Hot air Balloon flights or anything like that, but there are a few things I would like for him to consider. I read online about this class you can take with your significant other where you can learn how to make chocolates.  I would love to learn how to do that.  I would also love to go out to dinner, just the two of us, and then maybe see a movie, which is something we never get to do.

I know a lot of people think Valentine's Day is an over rated holiday, but I love it.  I love letting the kids buy treats for their dad, and I love that Bob takes them to get me treats.  I mean, it's always nice to show the people you love how much they mean to you.

Chocolate Covered Pretzels

I made these for the party Friday night.  I'm not sure if I am going to put them out for the kids, or have a secret stash for the adults.  Or I might just save them all for myself! lol!  I am having a lot of fun making these chocolates.  I just wish that the chocolate wasn't so expensive.  A package cost me almost $4 at Walmart, and it only made these 12 or so pretzels.  (I don't know the exact number, and I'm too tired to get up and look in the fridge)  I know I am going to get some for Christmas, too.  I am thinking homemade chocolates would make great teacher gifts, especially if I let the kids help make them.

Chocolate

Ryan's birthday party is Friday night, and I am trying to get everything ready, which is a big undertaking because I am extremely lazy and tend to leave everything until the last minute.  Like cleaning...I will probably be cleaning like crazy woman all day Friday, even though I have all week to do it.  I guess you could say I work best under pressure.

Anyway, over the weekend I made these cute little chocolate pops.  You can't see it clearly in the picture, but the first one is a spider in a web, and the spider is green.  It's my favorite of all the chocolates I made.  I still have to make the chocolate covered pretzels....maybe tomorrow.  Or the next day.

What's Your Escape?

This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of Dove Ice Cream. All opinions are 100% mine.
What do you do for yourself everyday that helps you to keep your sanity?  Do you lock yourself in the bathroom as kids bang on the door?  Do you long for nap time so you can sit and have an uninterrupted cup of coffee?  Do you sit on Facebook and ignore the chaos around you?

Me?  I take a good book and sit in a hot bath.  Luckily, my kids are old enough to not need constant supervision, so I can get away with a little more than mommies with babies can.  But trust me when I say that I have paid my dues.

An indulgence I have always allowed myself is Dove Ice Cream.  Check out those little bars of heaven.  Each one is only 70 calories, so it is okay to have one.  Or two.  Or three if you are having a really bad day. I believe that a good piece of chocolate can make most bad days seem a little better.  Dove now has a new Cafe Collection for all you coffee lovers out there.

Dove is having a "My Mini Moment" contest right now, where you can win one of three fabulous mini grand prizes. You could win a mini-getaway to Napa Valley, Spa services for a year or a mini-home makeover.  I have to say that I would love to win the middle prize, spa services for a year.  I have never been to a spa, but I have a feeling I would enjoy it immensely.  To enter, all you have to do is submit a photo and short essay about your favorite mini moment of escape by June 7, 2010. 

Good luck.

BFF's

Chocolate and peanut butter.

Two perfect foods who were made to be together.

Consider them BFF's, if you will.

Now that Easter is right around the corner, my favorite Reese's have been in the stores, and I can not get enough. See those little eggs over there in that picture? I could eat an entire bag of them and still want more. Yes, to me they are that good!

So imagine my delight when I saw this bad boy in the grocery store the other day! That's right, it is a huge peanut butter filled chocolate egg.

I had to have it...but it was $5. I can not, and will not, spend $5 on one piece of chocolate, no matter how big it is. I will, however, pay $2.50, and that is exactly what I did the other night when I found them BOGO free. I can not tell you how much I was looking forward to sinking my teeth into this bad boy.

Now, if you look on the box, it shows a thin layer of chocolate, and lots of peanut butter. In reality, it was a really thick layer of chocolate with a lot of peanut butter.

I know, you are asking yourself, "why is this chick complaining about the thickness of the chocolate?". Well, because the reason I like the little eggs is because the chocolate melts away in my mouth, without having to be chewed. This bad boy needed to be gnawed, and I wasn't feeling it. Plus, as you can imagine, it was very rich! I'm glad I cut it in half to begin with, and it still took me a couple of days to eat the whole thing.

Would I buy another? probably not. Am I glad I got it on sale? Absolutely. I would have been really upset if I spent $5 just to be disappointed.

Now, if I could just get the pop tart people to make a chocolate peanut butter pop tart, the world would be a perfect place!

Valentine's Day Chocolates

Chocolate. A very popular gift choice for Valentine's Day. I think the only thing that might be a little more popular is flowers, especially roses. I saw the most beautiful purple roses at our local grocery store today, and gave Junior a major hint about them. But, since we plan on moving this weekend, I think my Valentine's Day gifts will have to wait.

If you are planning on buying chocolates for your loved ones, I want to suggest you buy them from Intentional Chocolates. It doesn't matter what kind of chocolates you are looking for, whether it's Dark Chocolate, milk chocolate, or truffles. If you order from this site, they will donate 100% of their profits, from now until Sunday (Valentine's Day) to charities helping the people of Haiti. So not only will you be showing your loved ones you are thinking of them, you will be helping others.

Now, isn't that the best gift of all?

Healthy Chocolate

Healthy chocolate. Did you know there was such a thing? I believe the darker the chocolate, the better it is for you.

Did you also know that you could start your own business selling or distributing chocolate? Xocai can help you set up a business selling their chocolates. All you have to do is attend one of their chocolate tasting events, and they will give you all the information you need. These tastings are not only informative, they are fun, too.

I know there are lots of people who eat chocolate daily, and I am sure more people would if they knew it was good for them. One little nugget a day offers a wide variety of health benefits. Why not enjoy a piece today?

Chocolate!

Do you guys remember when I made the chocolate pretzels for our Halloween party? I swore up and down that I would never do it again.

Well, by never, I meant until Christmas! I found the cutest chocolate molds, and bought them and lots of chocolate to melt. Luckily, there are only a few molds that require pretzels. Most are going on sucker sticks.

And this time the kids are going to help! Sounds like fun, right?

Chocolate...And More Chocolate

I hate chocolate. Okay, maybe I just hate having to make things with it. I did not have fun making these chocolate pretzels, or the little tombstones, even though they are pretty cool because they stand up on their own. I never want to see another mold where I have to paint the chocolate in for the details. I have chocolate everywhere! I made such a mess, and the chocolate didn't go as far as I thought it would. I guess the bright side is that they taste yummy!