Holidays

Peppermint Mocha White Chocolate Steamer

11 · Nov 22, 2016 · Leave a Comment

As much as I adore pumpkin, I get even more excited about PEPPERMINT season! I totally remember the first time I had peppermint ice cream as a kid. It was back in the day when peppermint ice cream was only around during the Christmas season. I would save all of the little peppermint pieces in my bowl and savor them for hours after that little bowl of ice cream was long gone. It’s because of that love that I decided to try out a fun new flavor combination for this winter. Peppermint Mocha White Chocolate Steamer… Yep, YUM!

It’s not really a full hot chocolate, it’s more of a steamer (flavored hot milk) with a little bit of white chocolate. Yep, once again… YUM!

I used my favorite International Delight Peppermint Mocha Creamer for this steamer, but you can also create a scrumptious Sugar Cookie steamer with the International Delight Sugar Cookie Creamer. Another perfect pairing with some warm milk!

For the peppermint mocha white chocolate steamer, I placed a few pieces of white chocolate in the bottom of my mug…

I just happened to find some white chocolate with some peppermint in it, so that was perfect. I added the milk and let the chocolate melt a little bit before I added the creamer.

Then I added a splash of the creamer and stirred it with a peppermint stick or peppermint lolly.

The peppermint melts in the the hot milk and creates a scrumptious holiday treat! Your family and friends are going to LOVE it, it’s like Christmas in a cup!

Looking for more ways to create special holiday memories with International Delight? You can sign-up for their newsletter for great tips, recipes and I’m sure a coupon or two! You can also follow ID on Facebook, Instagram & Pinterest.

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of International Delight. The opinions and text are all mine.

5 GREAT Thanksgiving Recipes

9 · Nov 21, 2016 · Leave a Comment

Are you gearing up for Thanksgiving? We sure are at our house. Everyone has placed their orders for their favorite Thanksgiving recipes. Most of the shopping has been done and we’re gearing up for a scrumptious day.

Last week, I had a fabulous opportunity to travel out to Denver for a fun early Thanksgiving with some blog friends at WhiteWave Foods. You may not be familiar with WhiteWave Foods, but I’m sure you are familiar with some of their brands. One of my favorites is International Delight! They also have other great brands like Silk, Horizon Organic, Earthbound Farms and many more.

Now, I’ve been an International Delight Ambassador for several months now and they invited me to help cook for their WhiteWave Foods Thanksgiving. Of course I said yes, and set to work to create a fun dessert using International Delight for the feast.

But before we get to dessert, here are some of the other Thanksgiving recipes that my co-chefs brought to the feast.

Lisa from Wine & Glue brought a tasty Bacon Jalapeño Creamed Corn that was scrumptious! This recipe is great for Thanksgiving and any time of the year really. It’s lovely with the Horizon Organic Milk & Cream.

Lisa from Veggies don’t Bite made a Thanksgiving recipe that absolutely blew my mind! I came home raving about it. VEGAN SCALLOPED CAULIFLOWER is my new favorite Thanksgiving dish. This creamy veggie dish doesn’t have a lick of dairy in it and you would NEVER know. You’ll have to check out the recipe to see what magic she created using all plant based ingredients like Silk Cashew Milk. AAAAmazing!

Next, we had a lovely Roasted Acorn Squash Rings from Nosh & Nourish. Again, another totally plant based dish that was out of this world using some great organic ingredients from Earth Bound Farms.

Now, onto the sweets! Kat from Mama’s Losin’ It made lovely Pumpkin Bars that were a scrumptious alternative to Pumpkin Pie!

Last but not least, was my recipe. A mini version of my No-bake Pumpkin Cheesecake using International Delight Simply Pure Vanilla Creamer.

You can grab the recipe and watch the video on how to make this simple & scrumptious treat HERE. All I did to make it mini was to make it in disposable baking cups that are a bit larger than your standard cupcake cup and super sturdy.

All-in-all it was a fabulous WhiteWave Thanksgiving Feast! I LOVED trying all of the new recipes and can’t wait to make them for my own Thanksgiving and throughout the year!

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of WhiteWave Foods. The opinions and text are all mine.

Christmas Village Tree – Michaels Dream Tree Challenge

5 · Nov 14, 2016 · Leave a Comment

It’s my favorite time of the year… It’s time to starting thinking about CHRISTMAS!

Don’t you just love going to your friend’s homes to check out their Christmas tree every year? I know I do!

It’s so fun to see everyone’s creativity and their take on this time honored tradition. Thanks to Michaels, we get to do that on a much bigger scale. Every year the Michaels Makers are challenged to create their own dream tree and you get to join in on all of the fun and take a peek at all of these fun creative trees.

First off, let’s talk trees… Michaels has their largest tree assortment this year, including colored and flocked trees. Check out all of their trees, ornaments and coordinating holiday décor on Michaels.com.

I have the 7.5 ft. Pre-Lit Jasper Cashmere Tree and we are in LOVE with it. It uses the innovate Quick Set™ technology that makes assembly SUPER EASY!

This year, I decided to go with a Christmas village theme for our tree…

I picture this as a little alpine village on the side of a mountain all snowy and white. Each little home lights up to give the village that cozy feeling of home.

Instead of going with traditional Christmas colors, I opted for more of a wine and pink for the accent colors, sticking mainly with snowy white as the primary color.

In the background of the tree, my talented daughter drew more of the village on our blackboard wall and topped that with the Christmas Star as a reminder of the true meaning of Christmas. I LOVE how it turned out.

{Ignore the weird honey oak trim in the back, we’re still in a rental… Boo!}

Little Alpine towns also have little woodland creatures that are hidden among the forrest and I made sure to include our little friends.

I tucked them more inside the tree to add a little extra charm to the scene. We all know that they like to stay hidden away from the hustle and bustle of town. That’s our family’s favorite part, all of the hidden animals peeking through.

I found these gorgeous light-up stars and the marquee snowflake to add to the scene.

One little trick that I have is to hot glue your basic ball ornaments to gather into clusters. That gives your tree a more polished, professional look.

Another thing I did was to take a great, large basket/chest from Michaels and cover it with yarn pom-poms.

I had so much fun sitting with my girls, watching The Holiday making poms together!

Inspired to start decorating your own tree? Make sure you visit Michaels’ blog, The Glue String, to see the rest of the Michaels Makers’ dream holiday trees that were created this year.

An InLinkz Link-up

No-Bake Pumpkin Cheesecake Recipe

12 · Oct 20, 2016 · Leave a Comment

Love it or hate it, pumpkin is the flavor of Fall and no-bake pumpkin cheesecake is the way to enjoy the season. Give your oven a break and make cheesecake!

The minute the air has a slight chill it time to whip out the boots, scarves and all things pumpkin spice. From lattes to muffins pumpkin has become the official flavor of Fall. Our family is rather ambivalent on the subject. We don’t run out mid August and start stalking the Starbucks guy asking when the PSL (Pumpkin Spice Latte) release date will be, but we do enjoy a good pumpkin muffin or dessert. We especially LOVE pumpkin pie around Thanksgiving.

I have been hosting our family’s Thanksgiving for several years now and yes, we love pumpkin pie but… I don’t love the pies taking up precious oven space on that all important day. I wanted to come up with something just as tasty, but easier to make. Preferably, I would rather not have to bake it at all! That’s when I came up with this SCRUMPTIOUS no-bake pumpkin cheesecake using my favorite International Delight Simply Pure Vanilla Creamer as a base for the cheesecake.

If you haven’t tried it yet, Simply Pure is just that… Simply milk, cream & sugar. Here are the ingredients.

INGREDIENTS: SKIM MILK, CANE SUGAR, CREAM, CONTAINS 2% OR LESS OF: NATURAL FLAVOR, GUAR GUM.

What’s Guar Gum you ask? Well, it’s a natural food additive produced from the Guar Beans that helps to make Simply Pure nice and creamy. It stabilizes the other ingredients, acts as a thickening agent and doesn’t allow ice crystals to form. You eat it every time you eat ice cream too.

I chose Simply Pure Vanilla for the no-bake cheese cake but, if you’re head-over-heels for all things pumpkin and want to amp up the pumpkin game, you can always use International Delight Pumpkin Pie Spice Creamer. International Delight has all kinds of fun ideas that you can use their tasty creamers with. You know… Creamer isn’t just for coffee! Follow them on Instagram, Facebook or Pinterest to find all kinds of fun recipes.

This no-bake cheese cake is so easy to whip-up that you might even find yourself whipping it up for an everyday treat, not just a holiday one. I put together a quick video to show how easy it is to make this tasty dessert.

No-Bake Pumpkin Cheesecake Recipe

No-Bake Pumpkin Cheesecake

Save Print

Prep time

20 mins

Cook time

4 hours

Total time

4 hours 20 mins

This new take on pumpkin pie will win the day and save the oven! You might even find that you make it for a special treat anytime, not just the holidays.

Author: Heather // WhipperBerry

Recipe type: Dessert

Serves: 6-8

Ingredients

50 ginger snap cookies
5 tablespoons melted butter
2 cups Simply Pure Vanilla Creamer
2 packets unflavored gelatin
2 - 8 oz. packages room temperature cream cheese
15 oz. can pumpkin puree
3-4 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1 teaspoon vanilla
a pinch of salt
Whipped cream

Instructions

Place 40 ginger snap cookies into a large Ziplock bag or the food processor. Using a meat mallet or rolling pin, crush the cookies into a sand like consistency. If using a food processor, pulse a few times to get the consistency of sand.
Place crushed cookies into a large bowl and combine with melted butter. If using the food processor, add the butter and pulse to combine the butter.
Spray a spring form pan with cooking spray and pour the cookie mixture into the pan. Using the bottom of a measuring cup, pack the cookie mixture into a nice layer of crust. Set the crust aside.
In a small bowl, pour ½ a cup of Simply Pure Vanilla Creamer and whisk in the gelatin packets. Set aside and allow the gelatin to bloom.
In a medium sauce pan, pour the remainder of the Simply Pure Vanilla Creamer and place over medium heat. Add the room temperature cream cheese and gently stir to combine the two ingredients.
Once the cream cheese has melted into the creamer add the pumpkin, pumpkin pie spice, sugar vanilla and salt. Whisk together and let come just to a light boil and then remove from the heat. Make sure to continue to stir occasionally.
Remove from heat and taste the mixture to make sure you have the right flavors. If you prefer your cheesecake a little sweeter, add more sugar. If you like it with a little more spice, add more pumpkin pie spice.
Pour the cheescake mixture into the spring form pan and place in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours.
When ready to serve, make up some more cookie crumbs with the ginger snap cookies reserving 6-8 for garnish. Sprinkle the crumbs onto of the no-bake cheesecake and then decorate with whipped cream clouds topped with cookies.

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of International Delight. The opinions and text are all mine.

Holidays

No-Bake Pumpkin Cheesecake Recipe

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