Easter Weekend is around the corner...
... and to be honest, it usually fills me with dread! All too often it becomes about how many chocolates my Little Six can shovel into her mouth at once.
[Look, there is a reason we have
sweet taste buds - so we can taste sweet things right? So I’m not about to deny
my Munchkins the opportunity of using these taste buds every now and then. I just don’t want
them to overdose on c.r.a.p just because it’s Easter Bunny time. I would also prefer to not expand MY Love-handles over the next four-day feeding fest, either.]
You guessed it! I decided to make the treats myself (I can actually hear my husband groan - he's not exactly thrilled at the idea of being Sugar Free - I'm working on it though!). Since going (I mean, Me and the Kids, so far) Sugar Free I’ve had to become seriously inventive and pro-active.
So I got a ‘bee in my bonnet’ and sourced some Sugar Free Chocolate, and, for
me, bought a few slabs of 85% and 90% Lindt Excellence to play around with. I
also threw some salted Macadamias and raw Hazelnuts in the trolley, and
unsweetened desiccated coconut. I was Going To Make My Own - Ta daaa!
Onward home to play with
chocolate…
I put all of my lovely molds, that I’ve
been collecting, on the table, along with my selection of ingredients, and of
course The Chocolate. Oh, and some Peanut Butter too,
just because I was feeling particularly daring. And I began melting and mixing and, well,
playing really.
Here’s what I did…
For the Grown up truffles (Mommy's): Place each
in their own bowl- Few blocks of the Lindt 90% Excellence Chocolate, melted with a small knob of butter
- Few blocks of Sugar Free Milk Chocolate, melted
- A blob of crunchy Peanut Butter, softened
- Hazelnuts, toasted and chopped
- Sprinkling of coconut
- Salted Macadamia, chopped
I got my sexy chocolate mold
ready and…
- Poured three molds with plain Lindt 90% till the top, then pushed in half a salty Macadamia nut, till covered.
- Poured three molds till half with plain Lindt 90%, then topped up with Sugar Free Milk Chocolate for a fancy two-tone effect.
- Poured next three molds with Peanut Butter mixed with Hazelnuts and Sugar Free Milk chocolate till half way, and then topped up with plain Lindt 90%.
- Poured last three molds with Lindt 90% mixed with Sugar Free Milk Chocolate and desiccated coconut altogether and poured to the top.
Left them in the fridge
to set, then popped them out of their silicone mold. I think they look quite
super, like a shop bought truffle. I wont be feeling left out this weekend, AND
I wont be feeling guilty either.
For my Six and Two I melted
some Sugar Free Chocolate. I mixed in some crunchy peanut butter to half the mixture, and the rest I left plain. Then poured mixtures into a star silicone mold and popped a cake-pop
stick in and left to set (hiding) in the fridge...all whilst Six was at school and Two
was sleeping.
Then it was wrapping time (so
the bunny can hide them in the garden and they wont get dirty, or melt under my
cream cushions in the lounge)…
Plain packaging with two
coloured ribbons (pink for Six, and green for Two) - easy enough. Oh and
Mummy’s treats are labelled, and tied with white string, so there’s no confusion
- no, the Bunny doesn’t forget Mummy!
The only other sweet I have
bought for them are those tiny little speckled eggs for the little ‘laying’ chicken
they have from last year which I placed in teeny tiny cupcake holders and
wrapped in plastic (with coloured ribbons).
The hunt is also going to be
different this year. In the absence of sugar, I’ve stepped up the fun factor.
The Bunny will hide the homemade packaged chocolates I made in various spots around the house/garden, but I’ve added in other treats as well (that are not edible) to hide. Treats
like bubbles, play dough, coins, baby carrots (yes, left by Bunny) and a puzzle
for each child, with the pieces separated into little packets and distributed
around the different hiding spots.
There will be a treasure map for
them to follow (to encourage reading) with instructions (like “Hop on your left
leg three times, then turn around and shout ‘I love Mommy’) with a homemade treat and/or a toy
at each hiding spot.
At the end of the hunt, there
will be the grand prize.
And then instead of a massive
frenzied gorge on chocolate the whole day, there will rather be puzzle time and
play dough playing with (hopefully) much calmer and contended children.
I’ll let you know how this all
works out *holding-thumbs-and-fingers-crossed*.
Till then... Much love and Happy Nibbling
xox
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