yummy-ness

Since it's still hot and humid (which I am NOT happy about, FYI) I decided to whip up some delicious food sans oven. I am a stage 5 snacker for sure. I would rather snack on a plethora of things than sit down and eat an actual meal. I don't know what it is, probably the convenience and accessibility. Either way, I made some mighty tasty snacks last night that I just had to share with my salty sweater-ers.

The first thing I made was black bean and corn salsa. I love this salsa because it's inexpensive, easy, light, refreshing, and mighty tasty. Tiff made it a few weeks ago when our sister Kate was in town from the Dirty Jersey and it really hit the spot. It's also the perfect thing to take to, say, an Ohio State Football tailgate party, you know, as an example...just sayin'.

This picture doesn't do it justice

To make, just take one packet of Lipton's Italian Dressing seasoning, halve the liquids on the back of the packet (vinegar, water, and oil), mix it all together, and pour it over two cans of black beans (rinsed) and two cans of corn. You can chop up some cilantro and add that to mix if you like a little bite. I also added some lime juice before sticking that mother in the fridge to marinate. My favorite chips right now are the Tostitos Hint of Jalapeno and man does that salsa taste fab-u-lous with those babies! YUM!

A few days ago, I stumbled upon a baking blog called Chip Chip Hooray with all sorts of good dessert recipes! They aren't health-centric necessarily but sometimes you just need a little chocolate in your life. Am I right?! I really like this blog because I feel like I have a lot in common with the girl who writes it. She has a boyfriend but he doesn't live close, so she has to cook for one most nights, which can get tricky because it's hard to just make enough for one without having a week's worth of leftovers. I chose to make her peanut butter cereal bites pretty much just because I already had all the ingredients on-hand (a Bethenny Frankel tip) and, obviously, no oven is required. Another bonus: it only makes 5 bites, the perfect number for a single gal.

Peanut Butter Cereal Bites

Ingredients:

1 tbsp unsalted butter *I used salted because it's all I had

2 tbsp creamy peanut butter

1 (generous) tbsp honey

1/2 cup old-fashioned oats

1/2 cup Cheerios *I used multi-grain Cheerios

Handful of raisins

Handful (plus a few for you) semisweet chocolate chips *I used dark chocolate chips

Cupcake wrappers (for the finished cereal balls to set)

1. In a small pot over medium-low heat, melt butter, peanut butter, and honey together. Stir with a wooden spoon until smooth.

2. Remove from heat and let cool for about 2 minutes.

3. While the sticky mixture is still warm, stir in oats, Cheerios, and raisins.

4. Let mixture cool for about 3 more minutes. Then stir in chocolate chips. (Wait a little bit longer if you don’t want them to melt as much.)

5. Drop heaping spoonfuls of the warm mix into cupcake wrappers and arrange on a plate or small tray. Place in the fridge until cool and set, about 15-20 minutes.

Makes about 5 cereal bites.

nom nom nom



Happy snacking! Oh, and Go Bucks!





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