Pampered Chef Double Chocolate Mousse Cups

I had a Pampered Chef party this summer and we were treated to these wonderful desserts. I found the recipe on the Pampered Chef website and couldn't resist sharing. I hope you enjoy too!

Double Chocolate Mousse Cups

Waffle bowls add an element of whimsy to these cool treats.

Ingredients:

Waffle Cups
1/2	cup semi-sweet chocolate morsels
1	pkg (4 oz) prepared waffle bowls (10 bowls)
Mousse & Garnish
1/2	cup white chocolate morsels
1	cup cold milk
1	pkg (3.3 oz) white chocolate or vanilla instant pudding and pie filling
1	container (8 oz) frozen whipped topping, thawed
3	tbsp sliced almonds, toasted
1	container (6 oz) fresh raspberries

Directions:

1. For waffle cups, place semi-sweet morsels in (1-cup/250-mL) Prep Bowl. Microwave on HIGH 60-90 seconds or until melted and smooth, stirring every 15 seconds. Dip Chef's Silicone Basting Brush into chocolate. Swirl basting brush around inside walls of waffle bowls, replenishing brush with chocolate as necessary.
2. For mousse, place white chocolate morsels into another Prep Bowl. Microwave on HIGH 60-90 seconds or until melted and smooth, stirring every 15 seconds. Combine milk and pudding mix in Classic Batter Bowl; whisk using Stainless Whisk until thickened. Add melted white chocolate; whisk until smooth. Fold in whipped topping using Small Mix ‘N Scraper®.
3. Coarsely chop almonds using Food Chopper. To assemble cups, spoon mousse into gallon-size resealable plastic bag. Trim corner of bag with Utility Knife; using a circular motion, pipe mousse evenly into cups. Sprinkle mousse with almonds and top with raspberries.

Yield: 10 servings
Nutrients per serving: Calories 280, Total Fat 12 g, Saturated Fat 8 g, Cholesterol 5 mg, Carbohydrate 39 g, Protein 4 g, Sodium 170 mg, Fiber 2 g
Cook's Tips: To toast almonds, place into (8-in.) Sauté Pan. Cook 7-10 minutes over medium heat, stirring frequently with Slotted Turner until toasted. Remove from pan to cool.

Plain ice cream cones can be substituted for the waffle bowls, if desired.

If desired, 1 pkg (3.4 oz) vanilla instant pudding and pie filling mix can be substituted for the white chocolate pudding.

Menu Plan Monday ~ September 25-October 1

Vegetables will be served but I haven't shopped yet so that is yet to be determined :)
Sunday ~ Pork Tenderloin
Monday ~ Spaghetti
Tuesday ~ Leftover Buffet
Wednesday ~ Fish
Thursday ~ Sausage on Bun, Salad
Friday ~ Homemade Pizza, Vegetable Soup
Saturday ~ Pork Chops

Check out other menu plan ideas at Org Junkie.

Chuck E. Cheese’s New Pizza Recipe ~ Review

I was contacted by the folks at Chuck E. Cheese’s to check out their completely upgraded pizza recipe. This past year we have taken the kids to Chuck E's a few times as they are old enough to enjoy it.

I enlisted my mom and dad to come with me to try it out (hubby stayed home to paint baseboards).

The pizza as it arrives. Yum!

Grandma, Ava and Grandpa about to try their first bite

Enjoying our game tokens

Going in I was armed with the promise that, "with fresh cheese and dough, and high-quality toppings, this cheesier, crispier, tastier pizza is sure to please the palate of pizza lovers both young and old." I brought three generations to test this theory and here are the results...

Ava, age 5: "Can I have another?" (she ate 3 slices)

Grandma: "I enjoyed the thin crust and it wasn't greasy which I really liked. It was a good tasting pizza."

Grandpa: "Tasted like a better quality pizza."

Me: "Right from the start I could not see the grease pooled on top. I ate three slices and didn't have that heavy, too much fats feeling I get from fast foods and the previous deep pan pizza. I would definitely take the family back and happily order the pizza!"

They also have new birthday party packages that I may consider for next year's birthdays.

Disclaimer: I was given a guest pass for 1 Large Pizza, 4 Drinks and 30 Tokens to review the new pizza recipe. All opinions, however, remain my own.

Menu Plan Monday ~ September 19-24

Here are our dinners for this week. I will add vegetables as we have them in our fridge.

Monday: Chili, cheese, toast
Tuesday: Salmon, grilled zucchini, Sour Cream Scalloped Potatoes
Wednesday: Chicken with salsa, noodles butter parmesan cheese, cucumber salad
Thursday: Leftover buffet
Friday: Pizza Night (Homemade)
Saturday: Hamburgers, Salad

For more great meal plan ideas, check out Org Junkie.

I've Been Featured!

Thank you so much to Renee at Renee's Joy Journey for featuring me today!

Please, check out what she wrote about me please read here.

Menu Plan ~ September 4-10

It was a long weekend. I did get my menu plan done but not posted. Here it is (including the past 2 days in case you need inspiration).

Sunday: steak, mashed potatoes, raw veggies

Monday: roast beef sandwiches, roast potatoes and carrots

Tuesday: steak, grilled vegetables, salad

Wednesday: roast beef pot pie

Thursday: western omelettes, toast

Friday: pizza, salad
Saturday: chicken

Check out more menu plans at Org Junkie.

Finished, New and Ongoing Project Updates

I've been accomplishing quite a few projects lately, some of which were not on the "to do list" but were so cute I had to do them!

I did a baby blanket to give to new baby Adam (a future daycare client!). Great stash-buster of my baby yarns.

I also "whipped up" a crayon wreath for the front door.

To make the wreath, I purchased a pressed board wreath circle, hot glued a pack of 64 crayons. I added a few school cutouts (apple, school house, school bus) to the top and voila! Instant front door and Back-To-School wreath. My intention is to take Ava's senior kindergarten photos in front of the wreath.

I also purchased a Princess and Heroes crochet pattern book from Red Heart Super Saver. I found it while wandering around Wal-Mart and how could I not get it for the kids? Great timing for Halloween too. I'll make the largest size (8) for all the kids and eventually make one of each set to put in the dress up box.

My friend also informed me about a Renaissance Faire that is happening in our city on September 17th. It's nice to have a deadline to work towards and crochet is so fast it will not take any time to make. That's the plan any way.

I'm still puttering away on the sleeves for the sweater I'm making myself. Click on the bold to read about it.
Another friend gave me a fantastic tip to do both sleeves at once so if you make adjustments on one you can make it on both at the same time instead of having to remember where and how you did it. She also suggested the same for the front and back (on patterns that are the same, of course).

I also have the king sized quilt for my mother I'm working on. I finally cut the 400 half triangles and 200 squares. All 2"x2" finished squares. And this is why I've been a little slow on it. I will get it done and am steadily working on it. It might be the heat that is making me stall on the ironing bit.

The Lice Squad

I realise I got quiet on the blog. Let me tell you what's been going on. Remember at the beginning of August when I was dreading head lice? (read about it here if you really want to!). Well, it finally caught up to us.

Ava has been scratching her head for a few weeks. I kept checking her head for lice knowing that we had been exposed to it but I didn't find anything. Until we went to the park Wednesday morning and she hopped out of the car. What are those white things on the crown of your head? Oh no! It was undeniable and I even caught/killed two adults with my fingers - eewwwwww!!!

Immediate trip to the drug store. Hysterical phone calls to my husband and mother. Hubby got home asap (despite a hard work deadline but this took priority!). Did the kids heads. Deloused little man (3 years old) on the front porch and did a little of little lass's head (5 years old). After an hour we had only done a little of the crown and a bit of the back. She does not sit still but she did fairly well for her. I asked a neighbour who is a hairdresser to check me out. Yep, I had a few. She gave me a card to an awesome service called the "Lice Squad". I almost wept with relief that there was professional help.

Since I had done the treatment on the kids they suggested I wait 48 hours until they came. She advised I saturate my head in conditioner and let it sit with a shower cap or plastic bag on it for one hour. This will suffocate the live bugs but will not kill the nits. I left it to soak for two hours just to be sure! I made all four of us do it on the Thursday also. The thought of live bugs crawling on our heads was too much for me to take in. There was a lot of laundering and vacuuming to contain things. Then on Friday, "the lice lady" came.

I like that the Squad uses a non-pesticide enzyme to the conditioning treatment I mentioned above. They also  have a FANTASTIC nit-removing comb. The ones you get at the drugstore are pretty well worthless. We ended up using our finger nails on the ones in our first attempt. Yuck!

So, after 4 hours of treating and nit picking (now I know where that saying comes from a little too well!) we are lice-free. The treatment is to be repeated on day 5, 10 and 15 after the first treatment. I'm confident that the subsequent ones will take far less since I'll be doing it on my own. On those days I am to do a full house-cleaning (laundering, vacuuming, quarantining for 48 hours) to ensure any live bugs that might have escaped the head get caught.

What an ordeal this has all been. If you don't want the service you can purchase the enzyme and nit picker comb on their own. Here is a link to the Lice Squad's website.

I was not compensated or asked to write about this company but since I had such relief in finding it I thought I'd share that such services are available for those of us who feel completely overwhelmed with lice.