Tag Archive for: Recipe

, , , , ,

Halloween Snack Board

A tasty way to enjoy Halloween Treats!

You are going to feel like the ghostess with the mostest when you try this Halloween Snack Board.

This Halloween snack board is just the thing you need to try. Snack boards are so multi-purpose. I do them for lunches and I do them for birthdays. This board was created last year when Covid hit and we were all in lock down. It was such a somber season for for the entire Nicola Valley and the world.  As a result I decided we would have our own little party.

Halloween Snack Board and Treats in Merritt BC

Halloween Puns Are So Corny. Photo credit: Jennifer Schell.

Halloween Snack Boards are Spooktacular Treats!

 I had never made one for Halloween and wanted to boost the kids spirits. We assembled this easy enough and I am sure you could definitely simplify it by only picking a few elements to recreate. Furthermore, I wanted the kids to be quite hands on with this and have a great experience. Based on the snack board we created as a family for Valentine’s Day, I had some ideas on what I wanted to do. 

Hot Dog Dinner for Halloween

Lets Give Them Pumpkin To Talk About! Photo credit: Jennifer Schell.

Spooky Season is upon us 

Getting spooky like this is easy with a quick trip to Walmart. They always have such a great assortment of cookies and cupcakes seasonally. So putting something like this Halloween snack board can be as easy as 1,2,3! You can make your board a mixture of sweet or savory, like I chose to.  Or you can choose to keep it completely on the sweet side with gummy candy, cookies, and candy bars.  This Halloween snack board has some homemade items and some bought items. Don’t burn yourself out. Let your creative juices flow. Lastly and most importantly have fun and take a lot of photos of your creative eating masterpiece like we did. !

Treats for Halloween Snacking Board

We’re Here For A Gourd Time! Photo credit: Jennifer Schell.

Mummy Dog How To! 

Interested in making your own mummy hot dogs? They come together easily enough. And can make your own Halloween snack board totally stand out. All you need are your favorite hot dogs. Then some canned crescent roll pastry.  You then simply place the crescent roll pastry on to your cutting board. Cut into strips and then wrap them around your hot dog. Place on a parchment lined cookie sheet and bake for 12-15 mins or so at 350 degrees. You can then use mustard to make eyes. Lastly theses were so fun for all of my kids to make. So easy and very tasty! 

Baking and making Halloween treats

Let the Halloween Treats begin. Photo credit: Jennifer Schell.

Halloween Mummy Hotdogs

You Will Win The Award Of “Mummy Of The Year” With These Guys! Photo credit: Jennifer Schell.

Halloween Looks So Beautiful and Yummy

Healthy Snacks for Halloween

Cavities Beware. Photo credit: Jennifer Schell

Hocus pocus its no joke, candy helps me to focus. Lets zero in on some of these spooky treats. For this Halloween snack board we first have an easy addition with red pepper hummus.  Add in some pumpkin type lines and the top of a cucumber and you have an adorable pumpkin. Can you find the black olive spiders? They came together quick and easy. Just slice open 1 black olive lay it flat and with the opposite side make the legs. The peeled oranges and if you take a closer look you will also spy pumpkin deviled eggs. We used some turmeric and mustard to get a more orange hue. Crackers, gummy worms, tiny spooky cupcakes all round this tray out. Lastly make this your own and let your creativity flow. 

 

Healthy Halloween Treats

Life Is Gourd Photo credit: Jennifer Schell.

Have an eek-tastic Halloween

“Fa-boo-lous!

You are going to feel like the ghostess with the mostest when you try this Halloween Snack Board. I promise you it comes together easy enough. There is so much inspiration online. As a busy mom of 8, I can say that we all had so much fun. I had little ones making spiders, snacking and laughing. All gathered around my table.. This was honestly one of our biggest highlights from lockdown, and I’m so thankful I get to be in a space that lets me share our families experiences Being able to share our stories with. Experience Nicola Valley fills my heart with gratitude. In conclusion from my family to you, we wish you a happy and safe fall season. 

Family halloween treats and sweets

#Squadghouls. Photo credit: Jennifer Schell.

And finally, just a teaser, for the next big holiday after Thanksgiving here is a sneak peek into our  Christmas themed snack board. 

Halloween Snack Board in the Nicola Valley

Nicola Valley Travel and Tourism Guides

nicola valley talk show

“Experience Community Program” is a small and rural community authentic content marketing program. It is a product of the EH? Canada Marketing Group.  Contact us today to bring this award winning community program to your region. 

by
, , , , ,

Easy Smores Dip – Camping Treats for Children, Big and Small

Camping  Treats for All Seasons

Smores is delicious snack for any time of the year in British Columbia 

Easy Smores Dip –  Summer treats when in Canada brings on so many amazing experiences. A huge part of summer in British Columbia is R&R, and a big part of that relaxing could be sitting around a campfire enjoying smores. Our beautiful  province is blanketed in lush mountains and heavily forested areas, and not many things comes close to the joys of sitting around a campfire, enjoying family and friends under the stars, snacking on smores.  It just might be the unofficial food of camping for kids. 

Easy Smore Dip - Campfire treat

Snacking Board Pretty – Betty Crocker Easy

Easy Smores Dip Helps With Fire Safety

However, smores is not just a campfire treat, no…  you can have smores anywhere and anytime. And if you live anywhere where campfire bans are usually in effect, and for good reason, there are alternatives. This summer was one to remember for so many people who were displaced during evacuations. For this reason we even had the children’s Great Grampa stay with us during the Logan Lake fires. 

Graham Wafer, Marshmallow, Chocolate

Smores Deconstructed

Crackling Fires And Warm Summer Nights 

So how do you enjoy this tasty seasonal delight? Pop it in the over of course! As a result you can now enjoy it for all 12 months of the year. Easy Smore dip satisfies that deep craving crackling fires and warm summer nights. Smores are decidedly  a flavor of a Canadian summer that can make a place for so many happy memories. It’s so easy and a great dip to have kids help in the kitchen with. With a little supervision kids can easily make this easy smores dip quickly and safety of home. This dip goes from prep to table in 20 mins or less.

Still Sticky, But With The Comforts Of Home

Smores Can Be Quite Sticky If You Aren’t Prepared

Easy smores dip is almost a cheater meal. First off if  you are new to the world of smores let me give you an idea of what these are to you. Smores are a gooey fire roasted marshmallow and chocolate square smooshed together between a cookie or graham wafer cracker. The method is usually quite simple. But can be a very exciting food item to make, especially if you have any child under the age of 4 around the campfire awaiting a delightfully sticky snack. To make this treat in theory so simple yet super tricky.

 

Easy smores dip ingredients and tips and tricks.

Directions

Lightly grease whatever sized pan of your choice. I used my tiny cast iron for a more camp like theme.

Coarse chop roughly 3 cups of chocolate. We ended used a giant frozen Toblerone we had saved since Christmas. 
Then you can lay the marshmallows on top. Enough to cover the pan.

Ingredients for Smores

Easy Smores Dip Baking Instructions

Oven temp – 400
Place in oven for 5-7 mins. Watching the marshmallows closely
While that’s baking assembly is a breeze for this easy smores dip. Simply place graham crackers on a board or tray. In addition you can dip and dunk cookies, pretzels, or fresh fruit. Be cautious if you are dipping straight from the pan. It holds the heat and can burn. Parental supervision is a great idea.

 

In Conclusion 

I would personally like to thank everyone involved in our summer and the fire efforts made here in our beloved province. Thank you to everyone doing your part and helping us all grow in being fire smart. Our hearts go out to those that have lost so much and to those brave men and women working tirelessly to help keep us all safe. Additionally making small tweaks as we practice fire safety  doesn’t mean we can’t still enjoy experiences. Easy smores dip certainly makes #nocampfirenoproblem! Exploring the great outdoors and making plans is easy when you follow the Experience Nicola Valley Crew! As always if you recreate this recipe give us a tag. The family and I would love to see your creations and connect.

Willing Taste Testers

Easy Smores Dip – Camping Treats in BC Canada

Nicola Valley Travel and Tourism Guides

nicola valley talk show

“Experience Community Program” is a small and rural community authentic content marketing program. It is a product of the EH? Canada Marketing Group.  Contact us today to bring this award winning community program to your region. 

by
, , , ,

Easy Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp

Easy Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp

Baking Recipes in the Nicola Valley

Everyone needs an easy fruit crisp recipe that they can go to again and again.

Baking recipe in the Nicola Valley : This easy strawberry rhubarb crisp is one I have used for years now. Fruit crisps are a great way to add a dessert to any meal that’s so rustic and tasty its sure to leave any tummy happy. We used what was on hand our garden rhubarb and paired it with some extra strawberries. Creating a stunning, sweet and tart after dinner treat.

Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp

Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp. Photo Credit by Jennifer Schell

Fun Facts About Rhubarb 

Some fun facts about rhubarb. If the idea of eating it makes you wrinkle your nose these might be a way to entice you to eat more of it in the future. Rhubarb is a anti-inflammatory that can help build your bone strength.  It can improve your liver health and is packed with fiber, calcium, vitamin C and potassium. A quick caution however you want to make sure you never consume the leaf of the plant just the stalk. The leaves are very poisonous, wash your hands after you handle. A great way to remove your rhubarb is to twist it with your hands. Never cut it. As that can confuse the plant and it will stop producing stalks for you to enjoy. 

nicola valley strawberry rhubarb crisp

Rhubarb is part of this baking recipe in the Nicola Valley. Photo credit: planet_fox

Baking Recipe in the Nicola Valley : Rhubarb Strawberry Crisp 

The crisp comes together in about 20 minutes or so.  In my experience it has easy kitchen staples of flour, sugar and butter this egg free dish is easy like I said to mix up in a flash. Finally assemble your ingredients and lets get baking.

Ingredients

6 Cups of chopped and washed Rhubarb

2 Cups of chopped Strawberries

Two tsp of Flour 

2 tsp of Brown Sugar 

1 tsp of Cinnamon ( optional) 

In a separate bowl assemble.

3/4 Cups of Flour

1 1/2 tsp of Baking Powder

1/8 tsp Salt

1/3 Cups of Butter

1 Cup of Brown Sugar

1 Cup of Quick Cooking Oats

Directions

Firstly combine fruit, flour and sugar ( and optional cinnamon ) in a greased 9X13 baking dish. Secondly in your second bowl combine your flour, baking powder, salt, cut in your butter until its nice and crumbly. Thirdly stir in your brown sugar and quick oats. Lastly sprinkle over your fruit. Bake at 350 for 30-40 minutes.

In addition

This easy strawberry rhubarb crisp is easy to swap out with so many other filling options. Of course the most popular would be apple crisp, then we have berry crisp. Nectarines or even a peach crisp. You could mix and match kind of like what we did mixing the strawberries with rhubarb. Peach and blueberry.  Try a combo of apples, pecans and caramel drizzle. The ideas and options are endless with this treat once you have a fail safe crisp topping you can trust and know it will never fail. 

crispy rhubarb pie nicola valley

Strawberry rhubarb crisp. Photo credit: Jennifer Schell

Rhubarb Strawberry Crisp Topping Suggestions

I am so curious to know if you would prefer to eat this dessert of easy strawberry rhubarb crisp as is or are you a fan of toppings? Of course I would certainly eat it plain. But I love the extra too sometimes. Not only milk but other toppings I would include could be ice cream, or heavy cream. A caramel drizzle or chopped nuts such as pecans, walnuts or maybe even peanuts. The possibilities are really endless. 

In Conclusion 

If you make this easy strawberry rhubarb crisp be sure to tag us on social media.

You can find us to tag using https://www.facebook.com/experiencenicolavalley/ here on Facebook and https://www.instagram.com/experiencenicolavalley/ here on Instagram.

The Experience Nicola Valley Team is real people, sharing real experiences, we tell stories about our home town.  It is our mission to inspire, educate and share with you our adventures and experiences. And we would love to see yours also. So start with this baking recipe in the Nicola Valley. 

Easy Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp

Nicola Valley Travel and Tourism Guides

nicola valley talk show

“Experience Community Program” is a small and rural community authentic content marketing program. It is a product of the EH? Canada Marketing Group.  Contact us today to bring this award winning community program to your region. 

by
, , , , ,

Large Chocolate Chip Cookies – Stay at Home Mom Recipes

Large  Chocolate Chip Cookies 

This Recipe is here to save your day! Try this Large Batch of Chocolate Chip Cookies today!

“One bite of these large chocolate chip cookies and all of your cares seem to slip away. But, and there is always a but, when dipped slowly into a cool glass of milk, or enjoyed with a steaming mug of hot coffee this is a moment you can savor and be present.”

 

Large Chocolate Chip Cookies – To begin with I am so thankful you stopped by today! I am very excited to be sharing with you, from my home kitchen in Logan Lake, BC, Canada,  my famous home-cooked recipe for large chocolate chip cookies! Honestly there are just some days you need a large batch of chocolate chip cookies… And fast!!! For example you might be looking to feed your hungry household, run a day care, need an extra large batch of chocolate chip cookies for an after school program or church function. Maybe even get a  jump on your Christmas cookie exchange!!!

Grandma’s Large Chocolate Chip Cookies  

For us, our reason for so many cookies is because we are a large family. I am mama of 7 kiddos, yes you read that right, and there ages 12 to 20 months.  On the whole these large batch chocolate cookies are here to save your day like they often have saved mine. I really wanted to share this family recipe to everyone in need of a bunch of cookies! In short these large batch chocolate chip cookies are certainly a delight! Chocolaty, the perfect reminiscent crisp and chewy mouthful from your childhood. I would know, as this cookie recipe has been passed down generations and now I am sharing it with my kids and you, my friends online. 

Freezer Cookies

Big Kid Approved

Busy Mama in the Kitchen 

Raising 7 children in the rugged and beautiful mountains of British Columbia Canada. That is me.  The other day we woke up  and the weather was so crisp and chilly. In other words, days like that are the best time to create a slow living day. We like to use baking times to our advantage. We love to teach applicable math skills to little ones and community in the kitchen. Having kids mix batter or add ingredients, and of course subtraction as the cookies cool off. You could say our kitchen seems like the heart beat of our home, Or maybe that is the laundry room. Either way if either of those rooms go down we are toast.  For example, when I get in the kitchen more often than not everything is “large batch”, likewise if I get in the laundry room —large batches in there also!

Busy Mamas are Always Prepared

It’s so great to have a freezer stocked up for the foreseeable future full of snacks or yummy treats. I also loved having large batch chocolate chip cookies ready for when we would go on day trips and pack a quick picnic lunch. Honestly, to have a freezer stocked with soups, snacks, granola bars, muffins and casseroles helps me stay on track of the home so much better. It also gives me peace of mind if someone gets sick, or I need a night off. In addition its perfect when we had friends pop over, so easy to thaw and enjoy. But there is also something so delicious about a homemade chocolate chip cookie. Yum…Yum!  

Fresh baked large chocolate chip cookies

Large Family – Baking Day!

One Bite of These Large Chocolate Chip Cookies and … 

… all of your cares seem to slip away. But, and there is always a but,  when dipped slowly into a cool glass of milk, or enjoyed with a steaming mug of hot coffee this is a moment you can savor and be present. Able to smile and find simple happiness. Enjoy the fruit of your labors. Likewise pause and look into the eyes of those you love and connect. Therefore, I am actively inputting  a lasting memory into the ones I love. Even though we are in a time of crisis you can chose to capture moments. As a result you create a anchor point of security and safety and comfort. This large batch of chocolate chip cookies will offer you comfort and nostalgia (Hi Garndma!) and an opportunity to practice being present and mindfulness. 

Kitchen Aid Mix Master

Baking with “littles” is always an adventure.

The Best Large Family Batch Chocolate Cookies

Ingredients:

4 1/2 cups all purpose flour 

2 tsp baking soda

1  tsp salt 

2 cups of vegetable shortening 

 1 1/2 cups sugar

1 1/2 cups brown sugar

4 eggs

2 tsp vanilla extract

4 cups of chocolate chips  

*Optional*

1 – 2 cups chopped nuts 

Directions:

Pre-Heat Oven 375F

First of all. In a small bowl combine your flour, baking soda and salt. And set this aside.

Secondly in your large mixing bowl. Cream your shortening, brown sugar,  sugars in your mixing bowl for 2 mins on high. After that add in your eggs and vanilla extract. Then next your going to begin to add your dry mixture to the wet mixture. Gradually add your flour mixture. Stir in chocolate chips and chopped nuts. 

Drop by round measuring tablespoonfuls onto your cookie sheet. With this in mind I always use parchment paper in my baking. Bake 375F for 9-11 minutes. Additionally this makes about 10 dozen large batch chocolate chip cookies – Give or take a few.

Fresh Cookies

Chocolaty, Chewy.

You have 7 kids!? “How do you feed them all!?”

I am so grateful you took the time to read about one of the recipes that our family utilizes. As soon as people are initially introduced to me and learn that I am large family mom of 7 children. Undoubtedly, one questions I’m usually asked is, “how do you feed them all? I struggle just feeding myself.”

I am so excited to be able to start sharing how we raise our family here. Hoping to be able to bring a ton of motherhood, homeschooling and lifestyle content. Initially I really should disclose our days are so busy and full. And I really strive to try to capture the art of slow living in our bustling household.  Minimizing and streamlining areas of our lives are always my goal. For this reason a lot of my recipes are always large batch! And hence why large chocolate chip cookies were born.

If your interested in a more complete post on how we “feed them all”, a glimpse at our weekly or monthly meal plans or anymore larger than life recipes ( I have a bunch!!!!) Let me know in the comments below! 

Large Chocolate Chip Cookies Grandma Use To Make

Logan Lake, British Columbia, Canada

 

Merritt British Columbia Canada Top Travel Guides
by