Poppy Chow

"Poppy Chow" is similar to the popular cereal snack “puppy chow,” but made with popcorn instead of Chex cereal.

And it is deee-licious!

Did you know that popcorn contains more than 40 different nutrients, has more iron than eggs, peanuts or spinach and has the most protein of any cereal grain?

Internet, popcorn is your friend.

So why not generously cover your healthy popcorn in chocolate and peanut butter and then drench it with powdered sugar? A healthy snack with a twist. I'm sold.

It is the beginning of a New Year so if you're still on the healthy eating bandwagon (I applaud you), I'm helping you justify a little treat. Work with me here, friends!


Poppy Chow
Adapted from: Two Peas And Their Pod

Ingredients

9 cups Air-Popped Popcorn
1 cup Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips
½ cups Natural Peanut Butter
¼ cups Butter (1/2 Stick)
1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
1-½ cup Powdered Sugar

Directions

In microwave or double boiler, melt chocolate, peanut butter, and butter until melted. Stir in vanilla. Place the popped popcorn* in a large bowl and pour the chocolate mixture over all. Stir until evenly coated. Add the powdered sugar and stir until each piece is covered. Spread out on cookie sheets to set the chocolate. Try not to eat the whole batch immediately. If you have any leftover, store in an airtight container.

*Be sure to first remove any unpopped kernels from the popcorn! We don’t want any broken teeth!

{Mom's} Amazing Cranberry Pie

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year! I hope you had a joyous time with your family and friends!

Have I told you about my mom?

My mom is Martha². Honest. Hand to heaven. Martha has a team and my mom’s creative genius is all her own. Not only does she bake incredible desserts (desserts that put mine to complete and utter shame) but she cooks the most creative, flavorful and delicious meals. She’s the full package deal and the first place I visit after I walk into her home is the fridge. Oh sweet, wonderful, delicious leftovers. Just to get my hands on anything that she has created. Unfortunately, especially for my darling husband, I didn’t inherit the cooking gene. There are still a few people praying (and take out is a Godsend).

You know what else is awesome about my mom?

Care packages.

They are probably more for her “Oh my, why don’t you feed him something else other than cookies” son-in-law but I happily accept whenever the care packages are offered (and may pack them and pretend to take credit for his lunches).

This Cranberry Pie was something of that form. She was sick and still managed to bring a few desserts to a family dinner. She packed the leftovers up and they got sent home with me. Once home, I snapped a few pictures before eating the en-ti-re c-are pack-age. Oops. It was divine.

I attempted to recreate this dessert using this recipe (which was good) but no where near as great as hers.

I have to start thinking of something good to bribe her with to get the recipe and it’s going to have to be something better than homemade dinner and dessert.

Here’s to amazing moms and a new year! Happy 2011!

PS - I  hope your New Year's resolutions work out better than mine did last year! :-)

Updated with Mom's recipe. Thanks, Mom!

Ingredients

3 cups fresh/frozen cranberries
3/4 cup pecans (toasted and chopped)
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar divided
1 cup all purpose flour
2 eggs, lightly beaten
2 tbsp orange flavoured liqueur
2 tsp grated orange zest
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 ­ 3/4 c melted butter

Directions

Preheat oven to 325°F. Grease and lightly flour a 10 inch pie plate.

Place cranberries in pie plate and sprinkle with pecans and 1/2 cup of the sugar.

In a bowl, whisk together the remaining sugar, flour, eggs, butter ,liqueur, orange zest and baking powder until smooth. Pour over cranberries.

Bake for about 45 minutes or until top is golden and a tester inserted in the centre comes out clean. Let cool slightly on a rack. Serve warm or at room temperature. Serves 8.