Valentine Pretzel Bites (Take Two)

A couple of years ago we discovered this amazingly easy (and quick) Valentine’s recipe, thanks to one of my sister in laws! (Head here to see how little they were when we made them for the first time!) These Chocolate M&M Pretzel Bites are GREAT to do with kids; mine loved peeling the Hershey Kiss wrappers when they were tiny and they loved doing it again. Side note, I can’t believe they are six and seven, WHY are they so grown!?

Okay, here’s how to make these, seriously it is so dang easy:
-Spread out a bunch of square pretzels on parchment paper on a cookie sheet
-Place unwrapped Hershey kisses on each pretzel
-Put them in a heated oven (170-degrees) for 4-5 minutes until the Kiss is SOFT, not all the way melted
-Press a M&M on each Kiss gently (I love to use the pink and white ones during Valentine’s month, but really you could do Christmas colored ones or just regular!)

I like to put the tray in the fridge for 15-20 minutes to let them get nice and cold, and then I transfer them to a freezer size Ziplock bag. We snack on these days DAYS, and they make GREAT little gifts. Recently I made two batches and took them to our teacher’s lounge at work and if you know us teachers, we LOVE to snack!!

(Fun fact, we made a batch of these and had the oven set at 200 degrees….the M&M would NOT press in to the Kiss and some of them started to crumble! Lesson learned and thank God for GOOGLE because apparently we burned the chocolate! We read that 170-degrees is a great temp, and that’s what we used for two other batches. It worked GREAT. Don’t burn your chocolate!)

Do your kids like to bake with you or help in the kitchen? When we did this I thanked our daughter Reese and she said, “Mom, I’ll always help you. That’s why I’m your daughter.” These kids, Y’all….they bless me beyond measure and I LOVE these sweet memories we create!

PS: If you make these Pretzel Bites, find me on Facebook or Instagram (@ashley_glass on Insta) and mention me in your story or post! I would to see and connect with you there. Happy Valentine’s Day, Friends! Thanks for reading!

xox

Valentine's Day with Bertolli®: More than Just Dinner

The following content is intended for readers who are 21 or older.
This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and ConAgra Brands. All opinions are mine alone. #MangiaTonight #CollectiveBias

Valentine's Day was yesterday and guys, I think you'll be proud of me. I surprised my sweet husband (who usually does ALL the cooking) with such a great dish. And the best part? Bertolli® Frozen Meals at Kroger created more than just dinner for us; it was the memory and moment we had together that I am now cherishing! Using one of his very own own signature appetizers, I had so much fun bringing the Italian lifestyle to the table with the help of Bertolli®.

Now that we have two kiddos, Valentine's Day looks fairly different from our earlier years of marriage. We usually try to have them eat with us every night, but both of us were looking for a little extra quiet yesterday. I knew that making this meal 'for two,' instead of the four of us, would be just fine in my husband's book. While he helped with their baths, I prepped the appetizer: a caprese baguette with a divine balsamic reduction. This pairs SO well with Italian food and served with Bertolli® Chicken Alfredo & Penne, it did NOT disappoint.

Is your mouth watering yet? Mine is while writing this and I just had this meal! Let me share with you how to create this yummy dish:

1. Slice the baguette on a diagonal in about 1-inch slices.

2.Mix together 2-Tbsp of olive oil, 1-tsp garlic powder, and 1-tsp red pepper flakes with 1-tsp salt. Brush each piece of bread with the olive oil and herb mix. Broil under high heat until golden brown.

3. Slice plum tomatoes and fresh mozzerella into thin slices.

4. Top each piece of bread with a slice of mozzarella and a plum tomato slice. In a small saucepan, bring 1/2 a cup of balsamic vinegar to a boil. Continue boiling, stirring occasionally, until the vinegar has reduced by half. Remove the vinegar from the heat and cool COMPLETELY.

5. Top the baguette, cheese, and tomato with a splash of balsamic vinegar.

Five easy steps, y'all, for SUCH a great appetizer that paired perfectly with our Bertolli Chicken + Penne Alfredo dish. And the best part? My husband was SO proud that I handled this all on my own. It's not that I *can't* cook (obviously!), it's just that this is HIS calling; but man did it bless his heart for a night off!

We sat and made a toast--to eight years of marriage, nine of celebrating Valentine's Day, and for a quiet night in, JUST the two of us. I am so thankful to Bertolli for bringing excitement to an everyday meal such as this one. (Fun fact: Bertolli's 'Mangia" motto means 'to eat' in Italian!) And as much as this couple loves to eat, (can I get an amen?) we also love creating simple yet intimate moments and memories such as this.

Here are some helpful photos so that you can easily find this Bertolli dish at YOUR local Kroger store:

And here for the baguette we used:

What's your favorite way to spend a date night at home? If you want to try out these Bertolli Meals for Two, be sure to pick them up at your local Kroger Banner store in February to get them at the lowest price possible! You can't beat this deal and you will not be disappointed after cooking this dish. Give the caprese baguette a try too; you can never go wrong with bread and pasta! 

“Bertolli® is a registered trademark of R&B Foods, Inc., used under license.”

Valentine's Day Pretzel Bites

This past Christmas my sister-in-law and her children were making pretzel bites for the kids to gift their teachers. Her three were sitting at their kitchen table, carefully unwrapping every Hershey's Kiss©, and my son eagerly joined them. She told me that it was a great activity to help them stay busy, because they seriously focus so well on individually unwrapping each one to place on top of the pretzels.

While I scrolled Pinterest in search of Valentine's goodies, I remembered this idea! There's lots of variations of it, but we chose to do mini pretzels, kisses, and valentine themed m&m's for ours this morning. My kids were so excited to do this together, and I made a whole Instagram story of them unwrapping and chatting, giggling together and talking about how I would put the m&m's on top after they had warmed in the oven. 

They of course intermittently asked, "Mommy, can I eat one??" to which I obliged because they were doing SO well. And together, they finished the entire task all by themselves! That's a lot of pretzels for a three and four-year old! So here's how you do it, though I feel like it's pretty self-explanatory based on the pictures ;) 

-Buy your favorite [or cheapest in my case] brand of mini pretzels
-Hershey Kisses
-M&M's [we used the Valentine's themed]

-Pre-heat oven to 300°
-Line up the pretzels over wax paper on a cookie sheet
-Have kiddos unwrap the kisses and set on top of the pretzels
-Put cookie sheet w/ pretzels + chocolate in the oven for about 3 minutes
-Gently press m&m on each pretzel

And then I put ours in the fridge to get nice and solid. The kids had a few after their lunches and they LOVED them. I keep opening the fridge and snacking on them in between writing this blog post, brewing coffee, and rotating laundry, ha! 

Easy

Time-Consuming for Energetic Kiddos 

DELICIOUS! 

The recipe to THE perfect rainy and cloudy afternoon, at least in my book! Enjoy, y'all! And thanks again to my sis-in-law Jana for the idea! She is the best! 

Patching Hearts, Target Trips, and Finishing a Book

Currently I am steeping a very hot cup of tangerine tea, just lit some candles, and have my book Present Over Perfect open in front of me. I actually just finished it, and I don't know about for you, but this doesn't come easy for me! But now I'm sitting here with this feeling of, "what's next?" and, "how can I apply EVERYTHING Shauna said directly to my heart and life?" I underlined a LOT of sentences in this book, as I did throughout Uninvited. Like this part: 

Because that's what I've been searching for: a sense of my own worth. That's what we're craving: the sense that we matter, that someone sees us, that we are loved and valued. And so some of us try to earn it...

and she continued, 

It is only when you understand God's truly unconditional love that you begin to understand the worth of your own soul--not because of anything you've DONE, but because every soul is worthy, every ONE of us is worthy of love, having been created by and in the image of the God of love. 

I'm still dealing with a lot of emotional stuff, if you will. Mending friendships, letting some go, trying to live in the present and enjoy the season I'm currently in. Not being in the classroom right now (and having taught for five whole years) has me feeling disconnected, funky, like, "WHO AM I!?" but I am trying to be SO thankful I have basically the next seven months left of being Mom. It's funny how a life change like this can just leave me feeling so off, but I'm hopeful that I can rest in God's unconditional love because really and truly, that's what I crave. 

Alright, you tired of the deep stuff? Ha ha, me too! This week was good but today was kind of a doozy. We have all those, right? We couldn't play outside because it was freezing cold and spitting sleet, so I bundled the kids up and took them to Target, duh. They got cake pops, I got a giant vanilla latte, and we walked around for an hour. It would have been nice to have been able to smell candles and look at home decor the entire hour, but it basically consisted of me bribing them aisle by aisle with, "we'll look at toys next," and "if we go see this, I promise we'll go to art supplies next," and then finally, I was just doooone and really wishing I hadn't gone as close to nap time as I did. I later texted Asa and asked if he could please take them to the gym when he got home so that I could just have an hour of quiet. [Lord I wish I had his patience.....]

So here's some of the stuff we did this week! Valentines crafts, learning about the letters B and C, doing a sink and float science "experiment, and lots of coloring, per usual. Reese enjoys helping "make breakfast," so she helped me cook some eggs; we read a lot in Mommy's bed, I drank a LOT of tea, and in the mornings after we finished our bible story, I let them watch the animated version--they LOVED that. Oh, and I made frozen yogurt bites, which they kids are now obsessed with. If you haven't yet made those, you should try it. Just use a ziplock bag and dump some yogurt in it, cut off the corner of the bag, and squeeze into little dots on a cookie sheet. Freeze for 20 minutes and you're good to go! 

Pierson is working on a computer intervention program that Asa's school uses, and he moved up an entire level this week--that's a big deal! It's his first academic "accomplishment" if you will, so today while at Target I let him pick a craft. He loves to paint and to be careful while doing art; I absolutely love that he chose this figurine painting set. He did the horse first, because he said he wanted me to put it in my 'office.' I told him my dream horse (a Bay) and by golly, he did an amazing job. Thanks, Kid, Mom needed more reasons to almost cry today! ;)  

Reese behaved well in Target and because I have a bleeding heart, I wanted to let her pick a toy out too. We went to the dollar section and she chose a Frozen notebook, right up her alley. Tonight I am hosting a women's night, where we'll actually talk about the book Uninvited and gorge ourselves on food and conversation. I'm super excited ProFlowers and Sharis Berries sent me some treats because the girls are going to LOVE these covered strawberries. So, that's it! Our week in photos. Our weekend ahead is very busy, and the plan is to go to MICHIGAN [sans husband, LORD HELP ME] next week; so I'm hoping for a little R&R somewhere between.