Homemade Treats The SUPER-Hero Way
by Gina Young
These homemade treats look festive and delicious. The best part is that they look fancy, but you won’t have to pay the expensive price tag that comes along with buying them from a gourmet shop. Follow these simple steps and everyone will fall in love!
Here’s what you will need:
• Chocolate candy wafers
• Pretzel rods
• Rice crispy treats
• Assorted sprinkles
• Double broiler (or similar set up)
• Wax paper
Making a heart-shaped rice crispy treat is not as hard as it looks:
• Cut larger corners off one side to form the point at the bottom of the heart
• Cut very small corners off the other side to round the top edges of the heart
• Cut a small “V” in the middle of the top
• Use your hands to mold the rough edges
You don’t need to buy a double broiler to melt chocolate properly. All you need is a regular pot; fill it about 3/4 full with water and boil. Make sure you have a large, glass bowl that will sit on top of the pot without falling in, but the bottom of the bowl needs to fit down in far enough to touch the water as it boils. Pour the chocolate melts into the bowl. The boiling water will do most of the work, but you can stir occasionally to keep the chocolate melting evenly.
Once melted, the chocolate should look smooth and shiny. It should be free of any lumps and pour freely. Pour out onto a piece of wax paper. Roll pretzel rods in the chocolate until fully coated. Dip the heart shaped rice crispy treats in the chocolate or drizzle with a fork. Sprinkle with festive Valentine’s Day colors before the chocolate starts to harden.
Get creative with some of the leftover chocolate and make a heart-shaped chocolate wafer. Start with a small circle of chocolate and use a butter knife to move it around into the shape of a heart. When the chocolate hardens and dries, it will peel off the wax paper easily.
Nothing says Happy Valentine’s Day like Captain America! I knew that my boys would like these Valentine’s Day cards when I bought them… last year, after Valentine’s Day. I got them on clearance, 90% off! So instead of paying $3.00 for the box of 27 valentines, I got it for $0.30! I also bought a few other boxes that I thought they might like since they were such a good deal. So instead of paying $12.00 for the 4 boxes of valentines that I bought, I only paid $1.20.
Time to put it all together! Place two pretzel rods and one heart-shaped rice crispy treat in a treat bag, tie a ribbon around the top, and attach a card! Great treat bags for my boys to hand out at their school parties, all for about $0.30 per bag!
A great treat for the whole family!
About the author: Gina Young, a MBA and licensed teacher in the state of Ohio, blogs on budgeting and money saving tips at Money Savvy Shopper. Thoughout her career in finance, Gina has advised clients in areas of investing, retirement planning and personal finance. She also writes for the examiner.com. Her most important role, though, is that of being a wife and mother to three sons.
