Berry Cobbler Mug Cake

October 9, 2017 by Momstart 4 Comments

National Dessert Day on October 14 should be filled with decadent treats and ideally, a fuss-free kitchen. With the expertise and backing of Mars, THE COCOA EXCHANGE™, a marketplace for all things cocoa has compiled some fantastic dessert hacks to wow your friends and family on everyone’s favorite national holiday. We will be sharing those recipes with you this week. To start with here is a Berry Cobbler Mug Cake.

Berry Cobbler Mug Cake with Ginger Spice Granola

Ingredients:

1 egg

¼ cup half and half

½ cup apple sauce

1 tsp. vanilla

1 cup DOVE SIGNATURE® WHITE CHOCOLATE BAKING MIX

10 raspberries

½ cup PURE DARK® GINGER SPICE GRANOLA

Directions:

In a mixing bowl, whisk egg, half and half, apple sauce, and vanilla until well incorporated.

Add DOVE SIGNATURE® WHITE CHOCOLATE BAKING MIX and combine until smooth.

In 2 large mugs, fill ½ full of batter. Add 5 raspberries and ¼ cup PURE DARK® GINGER SPICE GRANOLA.

Microwave for 45 seconds. Mix will begin to rise above the rim of mug. Allow contents to settle and microwave for an additional 30-45 seconds. Contents should be slightly moist but not runny.

Allow to cool for 1-2 minutes before consuming.

Check out the video:

Chocolate Hazelnut Spread Quesadillas: Nocciolata Dairy Free Gluten Free Snacks

September 30, 2017 by Momstart 2 Comments

We received samples.

As soon as Zoe saw the Rigoni di Asiago’s Nocciolata Dairy she wanted me in the kitchen using it to make sandwiches. Yes I indulged her and made a sandwich out of this yummy chocolate hazelnut spread. I also made pancakes flavored with the spread and then even let her top them with more spread. Finally, I got a little more creative and made some Chocolate Hazelnut Spread Quesadillas.

Chocolate Hazelnut Spread Quesadillas.

Ingredients:

Nocciolata Dairy Free
Butter
Tortillas

Directions:

Heat a sauté pan over medium heat

Butter the outside of the tortilla

Place Nocciolata Dairy Free in between two tortillas or in the middle of one folded over.

Then enjoy. This spread really leads itself to all kinds of uses. It’s the perfect snack.

Completely free of GMO’s, preservatives, colors, additives, or artificial sweeteners, Rigoni di Asiago’s Nocciolata Dairy Free combines hazelnuts, fair trade cocoa and cocoa butter, natural vanilla extract, and raw cane sugar for a chocolate-hazelnut spread with undeniably superior flavor. Nocciolata Dairy Free is made with environmentally-responsible cold-pressed sunflower oil. It also contains far less sugar than other brands and is free from hydrogenated fats.

Easy Gluten/Dairy-Free After School Treat

Another EASY RECIPE:

Spread Nocciolata Dairy Free (organic chocolate hazelnut spread) on apple slices
Sprinkle with your favorite healthy toppings such as chopped nuts, seeds, cocoa nibs, shredded coconut, dried cranberries and/or raisins
Freeze and enjoy later!

All Natural Organic Dried Fruits

September 30, 2017 by Momstart 2 Comments

We received samples:

Zoe and I had so much fun this summer making video reviews. One of the samples we received that we made a video of was an amazing set of all natural organic dried fruits. Some of them were even covered in chocolate, and they came just in time to go on our trip to Florida with us. So after making our taste testing video we packed them in our travel bags and ate them on the plane. Check out our review of Stoneridge Orchards’ organic dried fruits – a wide selection of premium fruits that are carefully picked, hand-selected and dried to all-natural deliciousness.

The fruits – blueberries, strawberries, peaches, cranberries, and Montmorency cherry – are available in individual packs or multi-fruit variety packs, and now dipped in ultra-smooth rich dark chocolate or creamy Greek yogurt also.

In addition to being great for traveling because of their re-sealable packaging. They are great for after school snacks. They are great for taking to work or pretty much any time of day. Stoneridge Orchards is the leading brand of premium dried whole Montmorency Tart Cherries, berries and other whole fruits. Always delicious, their all-natural and organic dried fruits are available from retailers across North America. They are the perfect snack for active lifestyles and a yummy addition to trail mixes, yogurt, hot or cold breakfast cereals, baked goods, pasta sauces, and paired with your favorite wine and cheese! If you visit their website you will find some recipes, including this Easy Blueberry Pistachio Protein Balls Recipe.

I’m going to have to see if I can get Zoe to make some muffins using the cherries we have left over.

Blueberry French Toast with White Cheddar Cheese Sauce Recipe

August 24, 2017 by Momstart 19 Comments

We received samples and a gift card to create the recipe in this blog post.

Nellie’s Free Range Eggs is teaming up with Cabot Creamery Co-operative for some very tasty recipe making. Eggs and cheese are a no brainer right? Not to our family, so I felt like I needed to step it up by creating a fancy recipes. We made French Toast out of Brioche. Then we covered it blueberries, then we covered it in a Cabot cheddar cheese sauce that I created and it was to die for. Choosing a recipe is just as important as picking ingredients that are good for you, your family and the environment. Nellie’s Free Range Eggs come from the first Certified Humane® farm in the country where the hens have as much, or as little, access to outside as they want. Both Nellie’s Free Range Eggs and Cabot Creamery Co-operative are B Corps certified, meaning they meet the highest standards of verified social and environmental performance.

Sunday brunch has become a staple in our weekly diets, and eggs and cheese are recipe mainstays. This was part of the inspiration in our French Toast covered in White Cheddar Cheese Sauce.

French Toast with White Cheddar Cheese Sauce

Ingredients:

Brioche
3 Eggs
1 Tablespoon Vanilla

Cheese Sauce ingredients
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup almond flour
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 cup 1/2 Cabot white cheddar Cheese

Blueberry Sauce Ingredients

1 cup blueberries
1 Tablespoon Zevia sugar
1 Tablespoon water

Directions:

In a sauce pan heat up the butter to slightly bubbly

Add the flour and stir it until flour is mixed and bubbly

Then add the heavy cream and let the mixture thicken

Add the cheese and mix until melted then remove from heat

Heat a skillet to medium heat

Whisk the eggs with a fork and add vanilla

Soak both sides of the brioche with egg wash

Melt some butter in the pan and toast both sides of the bread

Bring the blueberries, water and sugar to a boil, while constantly stirring and then lower the temp and cook about 5 to 10 minutes

You also have the chance to Win One Year Supply of Cabot Cheese

Enter To Win:

10 Nellie’s Free Range Eggs Coupons

To Enter:

Tell us what you would make with the eggs

Extra Entries:a Rafflecopter giveaway

Ooey Gooey Chocolate Bars Recipe

August 8, 2017 by Momstart 10 Comments

We received samples.

Eagle Brand Sweetened Condensed Milk is perfect for summer time and for baking. They sent us some samples so we could whip up some tasty frozen treats to keep us cool. They have so many amazing sweetened condensed milk recipes to choose from: Lemon Ice Box Pie, Peaches & Cream Cake, Fresh Fruit Ice Cream and Key Lime Pie. It’s been called “Magic” … a can of Eagle Brand Sweetened Condensed Milk plus a few select ingredients and the results are, well, like magic!

We’ve been really busy this summer and since summer is almost over we wanted to make something you might take to school with you or to any get together because these are pure chocolate magic. We even made a video of our creation.

Gooey Chocolate Bars Recipe

Ingredients:

1 can Eagle Brand Sweetened Condensed Milk

two eggs
1/3 cup olive oil
1 box chocolate cake mix
2 cups chocolate chips
1 bag of marshmallows

Directions:

Heat oven to 350

Mix chocolate cake mix with two eggs and 1/3 cup olive oil

Place chocolate cake mixture into a 13 by 9 glass baking dish

Place Marshmallows

Place chocolate chips

Pour Sweetened Condensed Milk over

Cook for 20 – 25 minutes

Let cool for 20 minutes

Cut into bars

Enjoy!

Ways to Get Betty Crocker Coupons, Recipes and Free Samples

August 8, 2017 by Momstart 5 Comments

This post has affiliate links.

I’ve been subscribed to Betty Crocker’s free email for a long time now. I love getting recipes in my box, not to mention the coupons. I recommend that you sign up as well.

Betty Crocker’s FREE email delivers the best of Betty’s 15,000 kitchen-tested recipes, how-tos and more — straight to your inbox! PLUS, get up to $250 per year in coupons savings and access to FREE samples (quantities limited, one per member).

You know I love to cook and I have plenty of recipes on this site for you guys that actually came from Betty Crocker. One of our favorite recipes was the Betty Crocker Yellow Cake Cookie Recipe.

Yellow Cake Mix Cookies

Ingredients:

1 box of Betty Crocker Yellow Cake Mix (because she makes the best cake mix)
2 eggs
1/3 cup vegetable oil (applesauce of you want to use something healthier)
2 cups chocolate chips

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees

Mix the cake mix, eggs, and oil, then gradually add the chocolate chips

Spoon onto cookie tray and cook in the oven for 8 to 10 minutes.

Cool on wire rack. Eat quickly because I was told they dry out quickly, wouldn’t know for sure because ours didn’t last more than a few hours.

These cookies are delicious. My husband and I have quite an addiction to the flavor of yellow cake mix. I was supposed to pick up more yellow cake mix at the grocery store because we’re out of cookies already. I guess I’ll be getting more cake mix next week. This recipe can be changed with any flavor of cake mix.

A Marvel-ous Smoothie Recipe #StreamTeam

August 2, 2017 by Beeb 15 Comments

MomStart is a member of the Netflix Stream Team. This is a partnered post.

I’ve been a big comic book fan ever since I was a little girl. I remember being a toddler and feeling frustrated that I couldn’t read, because my dad had a novelization of the Supergirl movie and I wanted to be able to read it, too! I’ve gone as almost every comic book character for Halloween, made my own X-Men crafts out of corndog sticks, and even created my own Incredible Hulk-inspired gingerbread man!

Making Incredible Hulk cookies in the 1980s

My culinary skills have gotten a little more advanced since then, it’s true. 😉 But I still have fun coming up with comic book-inspired recipes for special occasions – like the time I threw a Spider-Man themed party and made a Green Goblin Veggie Platter! Since I’ve been eating healthier the past few years, I take it as a challenge when I need to come up with recipes that are compatible with my goals but still party-friendly. I think I managed to do that with my latest drink creation, a smoothie that is super healthy but still tasty enough to be enjoyed by anyone, including kids. It’s the perfect drink to enjoy on a hot summer day like today – preferably while keeping cool inside watching the latest Marvel show on Netflix!

Even Wolverine loves this recipe!

Marvel-ous Smoothie

Ingredients:

1 banana
1 cup frozen mixed berries
1 cup Almond Milk
Ice

Directions:

Add all ingredients to blender and mix until smooth. Pour into a glass and enjoy!

Just like my smoothie bridges the gap between healthy food and “Treats”, the new generation of Marvel programming has brought both comic book nerds and casual viewers together with shows that have something for everyone. You don’t have to know every origin story to enjoy the dark, edgy storylines in Jessica Jones or root for the underdog in Luke Cage. Meanwhile, hardcore fans can enjoy new and compelling adventures – one of my big pet peeves with comic book adaptations is when they rehash the same plots over and over again. I know how Wolverine got his powers, let’s see what he actually does with them!

Bringing different worlds and tastes together is part of the fun of spending time with other people – so go on, grab a friend, make some smoothies, and compare notes on Daredevil!

What shows do you use to “Bridge the gap” in your family?

Honeycomb Crusted Blueberry Muffin Bars Giveaway

August 1, 2017 by Momstart 92 Comments

This is a sponsored post and giveaway.

This is a continuation of our “think biggerer” with Post Cereal’s Honeycomb. Just in case you missed our previous, honeycomb recipe, Honeycomb Pie Crust recipe, I’m going to remind you all about why you should “think biggerer” with Honeycomb.

Honeycomb is a fantastic cereal that kids and grownups both like.

My husband even said that it’s one of his favorite cereals when the kids were looking at me funny. This is the first time they’ve tried Honeycomb and we didn’t do this small, we did this big, no “biggerer”.

By using the already sweet corn and big honey flavor that is in every bite, we created a Honeycomb Pie crust. This is the base for our recipe today. We had to go “biggerer” because we want to also encourage you to make breakfast “biggerer” than ever before.

You’ll have an opportunity to win a $25 gift card and a box of cereal to do just that with this classic cereal that never goes out of style. This recipe is sure to brighten up your breakfast or snack time.

Honeycomb Blueberry Muffin Bar Recipe

Ingredients:

Honeycomb Pie Crust

1 cup almond flour
1 cup coconut blend flour
¼ cup apple sauce
3 eggs
2 tablespoons butter, melted
3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 ripe banana
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
¼ ground cloves
½ cup honey
2 cups whole, fresh blueberries

(optional icing mix)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350^oF.

2. Thoroughly combine ingredients except blueberries. Fold in blueberries.

3. Pour over the Honeycomb Pie Crust

4. Bake in preheated oven for 15 – 30 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. The range is so long because this recipe has been adapted from muffins to more like a cake.

5. Let cool in pan (I took mine out so the crust crumbled a little bit)

6. Cut into bars or you can go even “biggerer” as I did.

7. Instead of letting it cool, I dumped it out upside down on a wire rack and then let it cool for 20 minutes.

8. Then I whipped up some icing, blue food coloring, (you could even add more blueberries), Then I topped with some extra crumbled pie crust and blue sprinkles.

Enter to Win:

$25 Gift Card and & Box of Honeycomb

To Enter:

Tell me what you could do to make breakfast “biggerer” than ever

Extra Entries:

Use the rafflecopter

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Honeycomb Pie Crust Recipe

August 1, 2017 by Momstart 29 Comments

I’m working with Post Cereal’s Honeycomb to create a few recipes, this is a sponsored post. This first recipe was the first step in my big recipe. Honeycomb is inviting you to “think biggerer” when it comes to breakfast. We want to bring Honeycomb back to the table for a bigger breakfast option. However, bigger is not enough, you need to think “biggerer” than ever before. Which is one of the reasons why this is going to be a two part post. The first is our Honeycomb pie crust recipe. Once you have this recipe you could go in any direction you want.

Honeycomb Pie Crust Recipe:

Ingredients:

4 cups Honeycomb cereal

1/2 cup butter melted

(no sugar is needed because Honeycomb cereal combines sweetened corn and unique hexagonal shapes with big honey flavor, making it a kid’s staple for kids and cereal lovers nationwide)

Directions:

Heat oven to 350

For best results combine the cereal and butter in a food processor.

(Today I just crushed the cereal in a plastic bag)

Then flatten in a pie tin or oven safe baking dish

Bake for 20 – 30 minutes (depends on how thick your crust ends up, basically as soon is it is golden brown take it out to cool). Letting it get golden brown lets it keep that big honey flavor and big crunch to make it the perfect breakfast option.

Stay tuned for our finished recipe as we turn this amazing Honeycomb Pie Crust into an even “biggerer” snack time option.

Here are a few ideas on how to best use this Honeycomb pie crust recipe:

Turn the crust into a quiche.

Turn the crust into an apple pie.

Turn the crust into a yogurt topping.

Protein Powder Recipe: Peanut Protein Goodness

July 26, 2017 by Momstart 4 Comments

We received samples.

QURR is a powder that can make those mid-day cravings a thing of the past, as they are chock full of key nutrients and superfoods our bodies need. It’s a great way to make a protein powder recipe, by using QURR. Qurr is powered by the all-natural, active ingredient, Fortetropin®, (fertilized egg yolk), which increases protein synthesis and is scientifically and clinically researched to reduce myostatin levels and promote and build lean muscle. Qurr powders are clinically proven to help you build more lean muscle than protein alone.

QURR products are a new line of great-tasting, flour alternatives that are low in carbs and perfect for paleo and gluten-free baking. From granola bites to smoothies, this product will be any health nut’s best friend this summer. We have one Qurr Toned recipe to share with you.

Peanut Protein Powder Recipe Goodness

Ingredients

¼ cup peanut butter
1 banana
½ cup yogurt
2 tablespoons of maple syrup
1 packet chocolate raspberry Qurr Toned
Toppings: Banana, Granola, Shaved Chocolate

Directions

Check out step-by-step instructions at Qurr.com:

I tried the powder in some milk and I enjoyed it. I found it to be very satisfying.