Cocoa Nutella Puppy Chow

I mixed a spoonful of Nutella into my oatmeal the other day (delicious), and I’ve been trying to incorporate Nutella into every single meal ever since. While doing some research, I came across a recipe for Nutella hot chocolate (Shockingly Delicious), and while I don’t recommend using soy milk, this recipe is one of those no brainers. Hot milk + spoonful of Nutella = Nutella hot chocolate.

I then decided that my next great Nutella adventure would be in puppy chow. This crack like snack has been something that I have yet to master. My last attempt at pumpkin pie puppy chow turned into a gooey, frozen mess (I thought putting in it the freezer for a few minutes would somehow make it crunchy again, wrong). So this time around I was a little more hesitant that the end product would be edible.

It ended up turning out more than edible, but a bowl was injured in the process of this recipe. If anyone has any tips on how to get burned plastic off a stove I would appreciate it.

While searching for puppy chow variations I came across this great blog, The Young Austinian, that featured what I thought was a puppy chow masterpiece. The variations featured ingredients from marshmallow fluff to vanilla paste, but the Nutella equation was the one I was after.

To make this puppy chow stand out, I covered it with cocoa powder instead of powdered sugar. You’ll definitely need a glass of milk or water to go with this. If I did it again, I think it might be interesting to make a Hot Chocolate puppy chow with marshmallow fluff and hot chocolate mix.

My only puppy chow tip would be patience. It may not look like your puppy chow is coated in chocolate at first, but after working it into the chow it slowly becomes enough. Don’t make the same Halloween mistake I did and double up on the chocolate coating, because that results in soggy, cereal-that-has-been-in-milk-too-long taste. And nobody likes that.

Cocoa Nutella Puppy Chow

Servings: Makes 1/4 gallon bag of puppy chow

1/4 bag of 12 oz Corn Chex Cereal

1/4 cup semi-sweet or dark chocolate

1/4 cup white chocolate

2 tablespoons butter

1/4 cup Nutella

Cocoa powder

Directions

• Heat pan on medium-low heat. Melt butter and chocolate stirring constantly. 

• Once melted, remove from heat and stir in Nutella.

• Pour over cereal, and using hands mix chocolate coating into cereal.

• Once covered, put chocolate chex mixture into a ziplock bag, sprinkle with cocoa powder, and shake. Add more cocoa powder as needed.

Chickpea Noodle Soup

This is it people. If you’ve been making up excuses to order take-out again or have caught yourself eating cereal for dinner for the second night in a row, the jig is up. This recipe is easy (15 minutes max), cheap (less than $5), and it even makes that warm, bubbly soup sound while it’s cooking. It’s so easy in fact, that I was able to write this post while the water was boiling.

If I had developed any sort of cooking skills in college I would have made this every night instead of ramen. It makes you feel accomplished and authentic without doing any prep work whatsoever. And it doesn’t even give you that puffy, just-got-done-crying look, that the sodium in ramen tends to leave behind. This soup is the kind of soup that you can eat with a fork, so if you like your soup a little soupier, add more water. Otherwise, give your microwave a break and your taste buds a pick-me-up.

This recipe is borrowed from one of my favorite food blogs: Fresh365. Everything I’ve tried so far has been love at first taste and I only wish there was more to choose from.

Chickpea Noodle Soup

Servings: 3-4 large bowls worth

For those visual learners out there:

 

• 4 cups water (use 5 if you want soupier soup, can also use chicken broth)
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/2 tablespoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 lb pasta (I used whole wheat linguine)
• 1 can chickpeas, drained
• black pepper
• crushed red pepper (optional)

Recap: Pasta, chickpeas, and spices.

Directions

• Bring water to boil over high heat.

• Add olive oil, salt, garlic powder, and pasta. Reduce heat to medium high, and add chickpeas.

• Boil 8-12 minutes depending on pasta and texture of chickpeas you want (I did 10).

 

• Spice with black pepper and crushed red pepper as desired, and serve.

Eat and repeat!

Coconut Eggnog

I had a long list of recipes I was going to blog about before this, but after making this last night it immediately jumped to the top. I wanted to make sure this was able to be enjoyed as many times as possible during this holiday season.

Holidays always give me a little anxiety. Each day I put a sticker on my advent calendar makes me think it’s one less day of the holidays I get to celebrate. Instead of the excitement I felt when I was kid (one day closer to Santa!), I now feel a longing for time to slow down (I still haven’t finished my Christmas shopping!). Someone got it wrong when they made the days shorter in winter. There’s just so much I want to do and not enough time to do it. I want to make a gingerbread house, while looking at Christmas lights, and drinking spiked hot chocolate, in footy pajamas, with Christmas carolers following me around, and snow falling from the sky. But then, I realize I don’t live in a snow globe, and just need to savor each moment one at a time. (Even though this girl actually did get to live in a snow globe for 6 hours.)

So I started with an eggnog moment. And while I didn’t do a very good job at savoring it because I drank it so fast, I did turn the Christmas lights on and celebrated Christmas early with Johnny’s Heisman. (Whoop!) And to make it extra special I added a little coconut to sweeten the deal.

Cheers and happy drinking!

Coconut Eggnog

Recipe Inspiration: Toasted Coconut Eggnog

Servings: Enough for 2 with refills

4 eggs, separated

1/3 cup sugar

1 1/2 cups coconut milk

1/2 cup milk (I used soy)

1 cup heavy cream

1 1/2 cups rum (I used dark Cruzan)

Allspice, nutmeg, and cinnamon to taste

Unsweetened coconut flakes

Directions

• Separate the egg yolks and egg whites.

• Beat egg whites on low until frothy, about 30 seconds.

• Increase speed to medium high and beat until the whites resemble shaving cream, about 90 seconds. Reduce speed to medium, and add half the sugar. Beat until incorporated, another 30 seconds.

• Next, beat egg yolks and remaining sugar at medium high speed until pale yellow, about 2 minutes. Add coconut milk, regular milk, cream, rum, and spices. Mix on low until combined.

• With rubber spatula, fold egg whites into yolk mixture until incorporated.

• Toast coconut flakes in dry skillet over medium heat until browned. Garnish and enjoy!

***Note: If worried about consuming raw eggs, you can heat the eggs and milk together first. I’ve also heard of substituting pasteurized eggs for raw eggs. Otherwise, drink up!