Lovin' From the Oven

  • Home
  • About Me
  • Recipes
  • FAQ
  • My Lifestyle Blog
  • Disclaimer

Sweet and Savory Bites

June 16, 2014 by kim 6 Comments

FotoFlexer_Photo

Some days, I can’t decide if I want something sweet or savory. To be honest, I usually eat something savory and then something sweet, making sure to repeat the process at least two more times. It’s a viscous cycle. With these little snack sized bites, you won’t be forced to choose one or another. You can have both in one bite! I’m going to be sharing two recipes with you that couldn’t be any more simple. Heck, they don’t even have official recipes since they’re so easy.

sweetsalty-16

I used Farmer’s Garden® by Vlasic® pickles for my first snack. Have you ever tried having pickles and peanut butter? It might sound a little strange, but it works. It’s kind of like eating french fries with a milkshake (In-N-Out, anyone?). I used the Bread and Butter Chips since they are slightly sweet and have a wonderful crunch to them. They’re hand packed and made with honest ingredients without any artificial flavors.

The cute mason jars that they’re canned in may also be used after you’ve finished the product for crafts, weddings, or storage. I’ve never seen a mason jar that I didn’t like. If Bread and Butter Chips aren’t your thing, don’t fret, there’s also Zesty Garlic Chips, Kosher Dill Spears, Kosher Dill Halves and Dill Chips.

sweetsalty

Pickles and peanut butter are similar to one another since I never what to categorize them. Would you say peanut butter is sweet or savory? What about sweet pickles? In this case, I’d definitely say that the pickle is the savory and the peanut butter is the sweet. I used honey roasted peanut butter for these snacks and it muted the tanginess from the pickles.

sweetsalty-9

These bread and butter chips are much thicker than regular pickle chips. There’s no skimping here.

sweetsalty-15

sweetsalty-12

It’d be silly for me to write a recipe for these. All you do is take a cracker (I used whole wheat Ritz crackers), smother it with your choice of peanut butter, and top it off with a pickle chip. Repeat twenty five times and you’ve got yourself an appetizer for your summer party.

Now for my second snack, Ritz cracker s’mores! Usually s’mores are made with sweet ingredients– graham crackers, chocolate, and marshmallows. In this case, I subbed out the graham cracker for something a little more salty.

sweetsalty-2

I melted some dark chocolate, spread about a teaspoon on each cracker, and then laid them chocolate side down on wax paper. I left them while I went to go do laundry. When I came back, the chocolate was hardened, smooth, and ready to work with.

sweetsalty-4

sweetsalty-3

Kraft made my life a lot easier when they created StackerMallows. They’re flatter, rectangle shaped marshmallows that are perfect for s’more making.

sweetsalty-7

I toasted each marshmallow over some fire before sandwiching them in between two chocolate dipped crackers.

sweetsalty-14

A torched marshmallow is a beautiful thing.

sweetsalty-6

I LOVED the buttery, salted crackers with the sweet inside. I might just replace graham crackers in s’mores for forever.

sweetsalty-11

sweetsalty-10

Be careful, each bite will tend to get a little messy! Now you can’t say that you were never warned.

sweetsalty-5

Farmer’s Garden is now celebrating their authentic, flavorful foods by throwing a Savor Simplicity Sweepstakes from May 7th to July 31st, 2014. You can enter online for a chance to win a weekend cooking adventure or summer entertaining package, each worth $1,500. One winner will be chosen each month. A $1 off coupon will also be given to all entrants immediately following entry.

Want to win a free jar of Farmer’s Garden by Vlasic Pickles and a Farmer’s Garden tote bag? All you have to do is leave a comment on this post using the hashtag #FarmToJar and share your own simple moments that you savor in life. You can also use that hashtag to follow the conversation on Twitter.

This is a sponsored post, but the opinions expressed are my own.

Filed Under: chocolate chip, giveaway, peanut butter/peanuts, snack

SweetXO Cookies & Giveaway!

June 15, 2014 by kim 11 Comments

sweetxo-11

I did something a little crazy; I went into SweetXO, filled up a bag full of candy, went home, and threw everything into a cookie. It was the best decision I’ve made all week.

sweetxo-12

The result? A cookie that will knock your socks off.

IMG_7975

SweetXO has a couple of locations in Southern California. They’re in Agoura Hills, Santa Anita, Huntington Beach, Manhattan Beach, and Thousand Oaks. I went to the location in Agoura and blown away. How have I not visited this store before? It’s basically my dream store that I’ve been picturing in my head for all of these years, but in real life. They have frozen yogurt with over a hundred toppings, ice cream, frozen popcorn (c’mon guys.. FROZEN popcorn!), freshly baked cookies, brownies, warm candied nuts, clothes, assorted bulk candies, a Coke FreeStyle soda fountain, and miscellaneous gifts for everyone in your life.

FotoFlexer_Photo3 FotoFlexer_Photo2

It may be a little overwhelming at first, but you’ll soon realize that even though the store carries a lot, it’s very well organized. The store is divided into sections that actually make sense: kids, women, men, frozen goods, and bakery items. As for the bulk candy bins, they’re scattered throughout the store by category.

FotoFlexer_Photo

Let’s talk about the frozen popcorn. They have twelve different flavors that change daily. My favorite was the Cini Mini Pops (cinnamon and caramel), which is basically caramel popcorn rolled in cinnamon sugar. That cinnamon sugar combination gets me every time. All of the popcorn is air popped, gluten-free and vegan!

IMG_7977

Right next to the popcorn was their ice cream section. Again, the flavors change daily and are made in house.

IMG_7979

Naturally, we had to sample every flavor. They had flavors like frosted flakes, glazed maple donut, and circus animal cookies. My favorite was crumb cake. I topped it with some cookie dough and warm Oreo brownies.

IMG_7984

I dove into my ice cream and yelped when I realized that my spoon was changing colors! The cold temperature of the ice cream made my yellowish spoon transform into a dark green color. How fun is that?! Sadly, I had to cut my visit shorter than I wished to catch a dinner. I grabbed a candy bag to fill up from the bins so I would have something to take home with me.

sweetxo-4

Can you tell that I was in a chocolate mood? Milk chocolate covered pretzels and rainbow sno caps were on my mind.

sweetxo-3

I loved that their bags had a ziploc top rather than a twist tie or sticker. It makes my life a lot easier since I’m always opening and closing my candy bag to get a bite

. sweetxo-6

Milk chocolate covered pretzels and rainbow sno caps look better in a cookie than they do in a bag, don’t you think?

sweetxo-5

The cookies are sweet, soft as can be, and has a lot of different textures going on with the crisp from the pretzels and the bite from the nonpareils.

sweetxo-7

This recipe comes from Sally’s Baking Addiction. All I did differently was add sno caps and change white chocolate to milk chocolate. Do you live in Southern California and want to visit SweetXO for yourself? Wonderful! I’m giving away a $50 SweetXO gift card on my blog to celebrate it being National Candy Month! Check it out on the Rafflecopter underneath for a chance to win. The contest ends this Saturday, so make sure to do it before then!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

 

Print
SweetXO Cookies

Ingredients

  • 3/4 cup (1.5 sticks) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
  • 3/4 cup dark brown sugar
  • 1/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 large egg, at room temperature
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 2 teaspoons cornstarch
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 3/4 cups chopped milk chocolate covered pretzels
  • 3/4 cups rainbow sno caps

Directions

  1. Cream butter and sugars together until fluffy. Mix in egg and vanilla.
  2. Gradually add in flour, cornstarch, baking soda and salt.
  3. Stir in chocolate covered pretzel pieces and sno caps, saving a couple to press onto the tops of cookies. Wrap the dough in saran wrap and refrigerate for at least an hour.
  4. Preheat oven to 350F. Drop balls of dough (2 tablespoons each) onto cookie sheet. Press a couple of sno caps onto the top, if desired.
  5. Bake for 9-10 minutes.
  6. Allow to cool for 5-10 minutes on the cookie sheet before transferring to cooling rack to cool completely.
3.1
https://lovintheoven.com/sweetxo-cookies/

I also have bigger news involving SweetXO coming up soon, so stay posted to hear more!

Filed Under: candy, cookies, dessert, giveaway

Pillsbury Bold Giveaway

April 15, 2014 by kim 100 Comments

gobold

gobold-14

Lucky for you readers, Pillsbury® is doing a giveaway on my blog so you can GO BOLD at home!

gobold-6

gobold-12

Just imagine all of the swirled cupcakes that you can make!

gobold-15

One lucky winner will receive the Celebration Starter Kit (pictured above), which includes:

  • Funfetti® Aqua Blue Cupcake and Cake Mix
  • Funfetti Orange All StarTM Cupcake and Cake Mix
  • Funfetti Neon Yellow Cupcake and Cake Mix
  • Funfetti Vibrant Green Cupcake and Cake Mix
  • Funfetti Orange All StarTM Vanilla Flavored Frosting with ColorfulStar Shaped Candy Bits
  • Funfetti Neon Yellow Vanilla Flavored Frosting with Multi- Colored Candy Bits
  • $100 dollar Visa or American Express gift card

The total estimated giveaway value is $108! All you have to do is enter through the rafflecopter:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

This is a sponsored post, but the opinions expressed are my own.

Filed Under: giveaway

  • « Previous Page
  • 1
  • …
  • 4
  • 5
  • 6
  • 7
  • 8
  • …
  • 14
  • Next Page »

hi! i'm kim-- a girl mom, baker, blogger, and ex-flight attendant. welcome!

Search

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter

Categories

RODELLE-BABadge




Categories

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter

Copyright © 2026 · Foodie Pro Theme by Shay Bocks · Built on the Genesis Framework · Powered by WordPress