New Born Banana Bread

A few weeks back while I was in Toronto for the birth of my nephew (a.k.a.: The cutest little munchkin on the planet!)  there were some bananas on the counter that clearly no one was going to get to in time so I decided to make a Banana Bread.  I didn't have my regular recipe handy so I made it a little different and actually thought it was so much better!  It's a super simple recipe so I wanted to share with you!  My sister and fam are chocoholics so I did put chocolate chips in theirs but when I make it for Jon and I, I'll skip the chocolate chips and either make it plain or with frozen blueberries.  So yummy for breakfast with the blue berries in it!

Ingredients:

1) 3 ripe or over ripe bananas, smashed
2) 1/3 cup melted butter
3) 1 cup sugar (use 3/4 cup only if using chocolate chips too)
4) 1 egg, beaten
5) 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
6) 1 teaspoon baking soda
7) Pinch of salt
8) 1 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour
9) Optional : Blueberries or chocolate chips - 1 cup of either.


Directions:
It's your choice on if to use a mixer or not.  At home I do throw it in my Kitchenaid but in TO I did it by hand and they turn out pretty much the same.  Preheat the oven to 350°F.   Mix butter into the mashed bananas in a large mixing bowl.  Mix in the sugar, egg, and vanilla. Sprinkle the baking soda and salt over the mixture and mix in. Add the flour last, mix.  Fold in blueberries or chocolate chips gently.  Pour mixture into a buttered 4x8 inch loaf pan. Bake for 1 hour. Cool. Remove from pan and slice to serve.

Yummo!  Enjoy!

Thanksgiving With The Monahans

This weekend we headed down to Jon's parent's place in Lockeport.  The few weeks leading up to the weekend have been a little stressful for Jon and I.  Lots of things going on with his work, and hopefully things leading to good news in the future, but still stressful at the moment.  At any rate, we both really needed a break to be home with family.  I've said a few times I'm so grateful to truly have family in my in-laws.  It really is a home away from home, and I'm always happy when we're able to head down there.  This time was no different.

Dad prepared a beautiful turkey dinner with all the fixings and I brought down a pumpkin pie.  Dad has recently been making home made wine (He's actually got me into the wine making this summer too!)  So after supper, we all got in to the wine and shared the most precious thing of all... family time.  :)  I love moments like this to remind us what's really important in life, and to give us renewed strength to keep pursuing the things that we desire from life.

It being thanksgiving, I also have to say that I am so thankful for all our friends and family who have supported us in tough times and celebrated with us in great times.  Without our friends and family we would be no where.  I'm also thankful to be blessed with a husband who is truly my rock.  He's such a good man, with such a sweet soul and I couldn't be happier to share my life with anyone else.  Together I know we'll be able to conquer anything we set our minds too.

These are some pictures of Lockeport.  Possibly a glimpse into why I feel so much peace there.

 

Food Blog Search

I don't normally make two posts in one night, but this one couldn't wait...  And it's been a while that I've posted due to a fantastic visit from out of town guests staying with us (which I'll blog about shortly...)

Anyways, I just discovered this food search engine powered by Google.  Well, actually it's a Food Blog Search Engine.  It's AMAZING!!  You type in any recipe or ingredient off the top of your head and it comes up with a million bloggers who blogged about it and have recipes.  I was looking for a recipe for bread pudding and found a fantastic one on there from this blog for a Pumpkin Bread Pudding!!  OMG!  Delish!  Ours was soaked in bourbon but skip that for a non-alcoholic kiddie friendly version and I think it would still be just as yummy.

Here's the recipe!  I'll warn you, I bake with the philosophy that as long as they are as natural and hormone free as possible, fat and cream are love... the thicker it is, the more you love the people you're baking for.  Simple as that.  How I'm still this side of 100lbs I have no idea, but feel free to sub out for more waist line friendly ingredients at the sacrifice of love.

Ingredients:
1 cup heavy cream plus 1/2 cup whole milk (OR 1 1/2 cups whole milk)
3/4 cup canned solid-pack pumpkin
1/2 cup sugar
2 large eggs plus 1 yolk
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/8 teaspoon ground allspice
Pinch of ground cloves
1 cup bourbon (optional, but who are we kidding...)
5 cups cubed (1-inch) day or two old baguette or crusty bread
3/4 stick unsalted butter, melted* (can skip this step if using the second set of instructions)

Directions:   **Note** There were two set of instructions - "Gourmet" and "Alternate, Common Be Lazy With Me" version...  I actually followed the Gourmet because that sounded easier to me.  Both are easy as pie bread pudding.  
 

Gourmet’s Instructions: Whisk together pumpkin, cream, milk, sugar, eggs, yolk, salt, spices and 2 tsp bourbon (if using) in a bowl.
Toss bread cubes with butter in another bowl, then add pumpkin mixture and toss to coat. Transfer to an ungreased 8-inch square baking dish and bake until custard is set, 25 to 30 minutes.  Slice and Serve.  Top with remaining bourbon to taste.

Alternate, Come On, Be Lazy With Me, instructions: While preheating oven to 350°F with rack in middle, melt butter in bottom of a 8-inch square baking dish. Once it is melted, take it out of the oven and toss bread cubes with butter, coating thoroughly. In a separate bowl, whisk together all the remaining ingredients except Bourbon. Pour mixture over buttered bread cubes in baking dish, stirring to make sure all pieces are evenly coated. Bake until custard is set, 25 to 30 minutes.  Slice and Serve.  Top with bourbon to taste.  

Enjoy!

I Can't Live Without...

For my second installment of "I Can't Live Without..."  I bring you, the Pampered Chef Stoneware Bar Pan.

Oh.  My.  God.

My Pampered Chef bar pan!!  Words cannot even begin to describe how much this has changed my cooking life. (An interesting concept for a blogger - but I'll give it a try...)  Like my last post regarding "I Can't Live Without..." this one was a gift as well, from my mother in law for mine and Jon's second wedding anniversary.  It was definitely something that's been on my list for a while and I'm so grateful for mom in law getting this for us.  I've been using it basically every day for everything from brownies to a pork roast, and our favorite thing so far... the California chicken pizza.  Delish!!!  (Recipe below.)

The key to the bar pan is that you really have to "season" these bar pans, similar to a cast iron skillet that needs to be seasoned first to make them non-stick, and really pull out their full potential which does make some people shy away from them.  Ohhh, but it's soo worth it when you do season it.  Another trick to get around seasoning it is to simply bake something very high in fat the first two or three times on it - like bacon, or what I did first - bacon wrapped scallops!  YUM!!

To season:  Spray entire stoneware OVERLY generously with cooking spray such as Pam, or grease with oil, so there is a nice thick coat all over the pan - tops and bottom.  Bake alone in the oven for 3 - 4 hours at 400° Fahrenheit.  Then let the pan cool completely in the oven.

The cooling is the most important part - because as the pan cools the pores of the stone will close up and lock the hydration and moisture from the oils in the stone which will eventually make it a GORGEOUS non-stick pan.  (First indication you're relishing your role of housewife a little too much - you refer to non-stick pans as gorgeous in all caps.)  I did this three times with mine and then made the bacon wrapped scallops before using for drier things like pizza and lean roasts.

Recipe For California Chicken Pizza 
Ingredients:

• 1   tsp evoo
•  1   package of Pilsbury refrigerated pizza crust 
•  2   cups shredded  cooked chicken  - We used bbq chicken. 
•  2   cups shredded cheddar  and Monterey Jack or marble cheese 
•  2  plum tomatoes 
•  ¼  medium red onion 
•  1  medium avocado 
•  1   lemon - completely squeezed for juice OR about 2 tablespoons of lemon juice from the bottle
•  6   slices bacon, thinly sliced, cooked and drained 

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 425°F. Lightly brush Bar Pan with oil.  (You can skip this step if your pan is VERY heavily seasoned, mine was not yet, so I oiled.) Unroll dough onto bottom of pan, gently stretching and pressing dough to cover bottom. Top crust with chicken and sprinkle with cheese.  
2. Bake 16-18 minutes or until crust is golden brown; remove from oven. 
3. Meanwhile dice tomatoes. Slice onion.
4. Dice avocado and place into a large bowl.  Add tomatoes, lemon juice and onion.  Mix well. 
5. Distribute tomato mixture evenly over pizza. Sprinkle with bacon, if desired. Cut pizza into squares with Pizza Cutter.

Vegetarian Note:  Growing up in a vegetarian household I always try to think of alternatives to meat and this could easily be a vegetarian pizza by subbing out the chicken for some more veggies like green and red bell peppers and some zucchini, and skip the bacon - or use imitation bacon.

Enjoy!!

Masterchef... Arpita?

I have been addicted to the new Fox show with Gordon Ramsay, MasterChef!  I don't normally get "addicted" to tv shows, but this one I watched religiously.  During the finale last night they revealed the winner, the youngest competitor who fought challenges on her age the whole competition - a 22 year old southern bell from Mississippi name Whitney Miller.  Through the whole competition she was just as cute as a button and so professional.  All her dishes looked absolutely amazing.  After a few competitions, and some of the most exquisite desserts I've ever seen, she earned herself the nickname 'The Pastry Princess'.  (Note to self: MUST try to make profiteroles soon!)

Every time I get sucked in to cooking shows though, I start having visions of being a Chef and wondering if I could hack it, and if I would enjoy it as much as I think I would.  A dangerous wondering when you're married to a man who's been trying to edge you towards the career for years...  Recently Jon and I decided it would be best for me to take a break from working to recoup, take some time to focus on us and certain things we want in life as well as taking a moment to step out of the rate race for a minute (I HIGHLY recommend doing this if you're able! It was really hard for me to let myself go to this at first, but it's been so therapeutic for my emotional well-being and for us as a couple.)  and trying to figure out what I want to do when I grow up. I've been toying with the idea of going back to school for Culinary Arts at NSCC.  The thing that I'm most nervous about with the career is that  I'm not sure that it fits well with family life and having kids.  I could handle the fast paced high stress environment, and some of the other not so appealing aspects of the career...  But being suitable to family life come first and foremost for me, and is something that's definitely important to me with a career so I'm not really sure.  I'm planning on doing a "test drive" at the school and with one of the head chef's here in Halifax to get a feel for it and see if it's something I'd want to pursue.

For now, I'll just enjoy watching cooking shows, and trying out their recipes...   :)  

Toastie Pies - a La Hey, Lady Grey

Friends, and blog followers have been asking me how the organic/ healthy eating initiative I started a little while back is going.  I think this blog post is a good indication of where I'm at....  It's going... in that I'm conscious of it.  And it's definitely improved from where it was in that I do only use my Home Grown Box of produce, or on occasion store bought organic produce.  I have cut down on refined sugar, but have not cut out.

All in all, I'm happy with the small strides I've made, and am definitely eating healthier now than I was before I started the healthy eating kick.  And as of today, I have gone 6 weeks with no fast food.  Those who know me well know that this is a HUGE feat in and of itself.

The other pitfall I'm experiencing is that in recent weeks I've become quite a blog junkie, and have been especially following foodie blogs.  One of my faves that I've posted about before is Hey Lady Grey.  Recently she blogged about Toastie Pies and they looked way too good (and easy) for me to pass them up. 

 Picture from Hey Lady Grey

Here is the recipe.

Ingredients

1 apple

2 slices bread (I used raisin bread)

Cinnamon-Sugar Spread

2 Tbs butter, room temperature

2 Tbs sugar

1 tsp ground cinnamon

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

2. Mix cinnamon & sugar in a small bowl, then mix with butter. This will make a little more spread than you need, but it keeps in the fridge and makes a great breakfast spread for toast.

3. Peel and slice apple into 1/4 inch thick slices. Place in a microwave safe bowl and microwave on high for 1 min 30 seconds. Then set aside.

4. Cut crusts off bread. Then using your fingers (or a rolling pin) smush/squish the bread down to a pancake. Butter one side of each bread with plain butter. On the other side generously & evenly spread the cinnamon-sugar-butter mixture. 

5. Push the bread into muffin tins, butter side down (cinnamon side up). Fill centres with apple slices, then fold corners of bread over top to seal the pie. Don't be afraid to really squish it down so that the top sticks. Sprinkle top with a bit of granulated sugar.

6. Bake at 350 for 15 minutes, or until tops of toastie-pies are golden.

7. Remove from muffin tins and serve warm with ice cream. Enjoy!

Yummiest Book Ever!

One of my favorite bloggers, Bakerella, is writing a book about something from her blog.  She's actually quite famous and was on Martha Stewart talking about her Cake Pops.  I saw this idea on her blog a few years ago and altered it a bit to make what I call Cake Truffles.  Essentially the same thing, but I don't put mine on sticks, and I use chocolate instead of candy melts.  I always,  Santa always makes sure to have a bunch in all the stockings at Christmas time in the Lockeport Monahan house.  They're a huge hit!  Yum!

Check Out The How To Video 

Caffeinated Cool

This summer seems to be bringing a crazy heat wave every where from Jersey, Toronto, to Halifax and every place in between!  Jon and I have really been trying to eat healthier especially focusing on eating local organic and cutting out... cutting down refined sugars.  (Well, trying anyways...)  Neither of us have much of a sweet tooth at all, but it really is crazy the places you'll find refined sugar!  On top of which, with all this heat we've been finding ourselves on mid-night ice cream runs much more than we  our waist lines would like!

Thankfully my sister turned me on to this amazing foodie blog that I am loving!  This post about making home made Frappuccinos from coffee ice cubes got me thinking...  Jon and I love coffee, and I have always had a strong nostalgia for homemade freezer icey molds being that I was practically raised on these in the summers, growing up in Jersey as a child.

 Seriously... even just the empty cups make me think of the care free summers as a kid.  Love it....  

So I made up about 4 cups of coffee, mixed in about 1 cup of milk, a bit of natural brown sugar, roughly 4 tbsp into the whole batch.  Blended with a milk frother.  (I think it would have been the same consistency if I mixed it with a spoon...)  

Poured into the cups, and let set a few hours in the freezer...  The plan was to let set overnight, but we couldn't resist!  They were delicious!  A perfect summer treat, not to mention our waist lines love it as much as we do, and it's super cheap and easy!    

Enjoy!  Stay cool!

Additional Note:  After posting this a friend of mine read it and told me she does something similar but before pouring the coffee into the cups, pours a bit of Hershey's syrup into the tip of each cup so it's a Mocha pop.  Must try this for our next batch! 

Sweet Retreat from Wheat

To get us started off on kicking gluten I decided to try making these gluten free cookies.  They were super easy to whip up, and are very similar to a sugar cookie.  Overall, they were good but definitely not something I'm going to be rushing out to make right away again.  The biscotti was really good, although the pieces are cut a little bigger than I'd like for one cup of tea, so next time I'll probably break them in half.  Enjoy!  

Dear Gluten, It's not you... It's me...

Well, actually... it is kinda you.  After talking to my naturopath this past thursday we decided that it would be worth while to put me on a gluten free diet to try to achieve some of my health goals we're working on together.  I have to admit when she first said "How do you feel about going gluten-free?"  I thought she must be crazy!!  How was I going to give up my beloved pasta... my breads... my muffins... and let's not forget my granola bars!!  But actually, when we took a closer look at my diet it was actually a relatively low gluten diet to begin with, and the areas that were high, such as pastas are easily substituted.  Quite a bit of the gluten I've been eating is just to go along side with my main meal (ie: A roll with my ceasar salad for lunch... or a muffin to go with my eggs in the morning.)

This in combination with the fact that almost all things that have gluten are available in a gluten-free variety makes me think that it will actually be a lot easier than I thought it would be.  For instance I found a really great brand of gluten free rolled oats which I plan on using for my next batch of granola bars.  My naturopath's advice was that Japanese, Thai and Mexican are great cuisines that are low to no gluten since they rely heavily on rice and corn flour.  That's very good news being that I cook mexican at least once or twice a week... and Jon and I both LOVE sushi and Thai! 

She also mentioned Satisfaction Feast, The Wooden Monkey  and  The Brooklyn Warehouse which are all restaurant in Halifax which are gluten-free friendly.  We tried The Brooklyn Warehouse tonite which we have actually been meaning to try for a while, and was absolutely incredible!!!  It's so great to be able to go out for a nice meal and still get farm fresh food that tastes incredible!!  Whoever said that healthy eating can't be absolutely yummy is just flat out wrong!  I've tried Satisfaction Feast ages ago and it was wonderful.  We'll have to try to go again soon.

All in all, Jon and I have actually been making a lot of changes to our diet recently from switching to organic foods to adding a great variet of supplements to our diets.  Each change has been much easier than we originally thought it would be.  What's more is that I've already noticed the desired effects of the supplements which is huge incentive to keep up with it and all similar changes.

I'll keep all my blog readers up to date on how the gluten-free diet goes.  So far my plan is to still make my granola bars, but obviously use a gluten free rolled oat.  In addition for pasta we are switching to rice pasta.  Other than that I have to just be conscious to not ask for a roll on the side and I should be golden!!  :)  This may also be the push I need to cook more indian foods for us such a dal which is a lentil... and rajma which is made from Kidney beans.  Wish us luck!!    

Good Morning, Sunshine!

One of the main health initiatives that we've been trying to focus on is cutting down on refined sugar, and trying to reduce our sugars overall.  I was shocked to learn that my beloved Nature Valley Granola Bars (and essentially all granola bars in the grocery store) are just glorified candy bars!!  I was literally angry when I was looking at the label the other night!  I really do not understand how they're able to market that junk as healthy!

This in combination with the fact that I'm still not eating much of a breakfast in the morning, I took on making my own granola bars!  I figure this way I will know what's in them, and they're the perfect grab and go breakfast food.  This morning I tossed a granola bar, an apple and an orange in my purse and was off!

Here are the goods!

 

One cup whole wheat flour, 2 cups rolled oats

  

1/2 Cup Powdered Skim Milk

 

This is the money shot... I *heart* honey!

 

My new best friend, the flax seed

 

Variety mix of pumpkin seeds, almonds, and raisins 

 

The earth's candy...  Dried red currents, apricot, pineapple papaya and raisins

Chopped and saved 1/2 for the next batch. 

 

All the yummies mixed up and ready to go!

 

Just ready to go in the over!!  They already smelled SOO good!  

 

The good stuff!!  There are no pictures of me dipping the bars cause I was WAY too wrapped up in how heavenly it was!!  :) 

Voila!!  Easy Peasy!!  This batch made 16 bars, which is perfect to last Jon and I through 1 week... giving us each one bar a day with a little wiggle room!  :)  

And here's the recipe!  The cross outs are what the recipe called for, and I substituted for, or eliminated.


Ingredients
2 Cups rolled oats
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup dry skim milk powder
6 Tbsp sugar    2tsp honey
1 cup apple juice
1/4 cup flax seed
1/2 cup dates snipped in small pieces
1/2 cup chopped dried pineapple, apricot etc.
1/2 tsp cinnamon  1 Tbsp cinnamon
1/4 cup shelled pumpkin or sunflower seeds
pinch of salt
1/2 cup oil  (I used sunflower seed oil, but evoo would be fine too if that's all you have handy)
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Directions
Preheat over to 350 F.  Grease glass baking dish.

Combine all ingredients except chocolate.  Pat into the pan with moist hands.  Bake for 30 minutes until lightly browned around the edges.  Cut while still hot, but let cool completely before taking out of the pan.

Melt the chocolate in the microwave on high for 2 minutes, stopping every 30 seconds to stir the chocolate.


I've wrapped mine individually with cellophane, and put them in a zip lock in the fridge so they're super easy to grab and go!  No fuss!!  No muss!!  Enjoy!  

Organic Healthy Food... Cheap, Easy AND Convenient??

This is the beautiful box of organic veggies and foods that showed up at our house Saturday morning!  Words cannot even begin to describe how happy I was when I opened this box!  Jon and I just signed up for the "weekly food box" with Home Grown Organic Foods.

We've been trying to eat healthier, and really take a close look at labels, and what's really in our food.  Even things that we thought were healthy, like soy milk... is actually SO over processed when you really look at it.  With all of this, I was really begining to wonder if I can't even help Jon and I eat healthy... how the heck do people manage to teach their kids the healthy things to eat??  Friends have mentioned Home Grown to us a few times, and to be honest... I really have no idea why it took us so long to sign up.  There are 4 sizes to choose from... single, double, family and clan.  This is the single and it was $30!!  Home delivery and all included!  I never in a million years thought that eating right would be easy AND convenient.

Home Grown is a cooperative that purchases from local growers in NS so that way we are supporting local growers, and know that our food doesn't have any pesticides, hormones or other yucky things.

To support our new initiave to eat healthy, we've also started taking some pretty essential supplements... one thing we've both started doing is 2 tablespoons of ground flax seed a day.  So I decided to add this all natural Goats Milk yogurt to throw my flaxseed in... and it's been delicious!!

Yummy almond butter!!  Much less in fat than peanut butter... and helps me get my protein!  

Jon was over the moon to see these fresh mushrooms! 

This is Swiss Chard.  I have to admit, when I first saw this in the box I didn't have a sweet clue how I was going to cook it.  Jon made us supper last night, and he cut up some of this Swiss Chard, steamed it with 2 chopped cloves of garlic, a tiny bit of extra virgin olive oil... and once it was done put a couple handfulls of feta cheese in, put the lid back on the pot so the cheese got soft and spread on the Chard.  It was DELICIOUS!!  I made some to go on the side of our meal tonite too cause I was still craving it!

I'm also planning on making this  during the week.  I will likely sub out the sausage for baked chicken breast...  But it sounds delicious!

I've met with naturopaths a few times... never really found one that I fully connected with.  But I'm actually booked in to see one who was highly recommened by a friend, at Balance Naturopath Health Center.   And the one thing that I've always gotten consistently is a scolding for skipping breakfast.  I know everyone says it's the most important meal of the day... But who has the time for healthy nutritious breakfast in the morning when rushing off to work??  So I decided to add this to my order as well.  The plan is to have my granola with a few table spoons of yogurt, and an additional 2 tablespoons of ground flaxseeds.  So far it's been going really well... although, it has also been the weekend.  Haha!  My plan is to tonite, mix up a tupperware of the granola and yogurt and some fruit to last me through the week.   I really think, like all of the other choices that we've made, it'll be alot easier than we thought it would be.

All in all... It's been really easy to start eating healthier... and while it does seem like a big adjustment before you start doing it the one thing Jon and kept talking about is that we want to make these changes before kids come along because life itself seems hard when you have a newborn... I can't imagine making a change like this while also adjusting to parenthood.  And it's really important to both of us to make sure we teach our kids healthy eating habits that our parents didn't have to worry about when we were little tykes.  There are so many chemicals and over processed foods out there that just weren't on the market 20 years ago.  It only makes sense to start making these habits now.  

There are a few things that I'm still learning to do.  Like today when I went to go pick up my favorite box of crackers, glanced at the label and noticed that almost none of the ingredients were easily pronounced, or even the names of food.  I hate to admit, I did stand there for a second and try to decide if it was worth it... but I'm proud to say that I put them back, and chose a natural cracker with actual foods as the ingredients.

Thanks for reading!!  I'll be sure to update some of the new recipes we try!

Just for my honey...

Well, it's that time again... Exam time.  The dreaded exam time.  To make matters worse, Jon has a stats exam this wednesday and it's apparently supposed to be a brutal one.  I was feeling really guilty because I got his hopes up yesterday with the promises of a black forest cake (his FAVORITE) only to realize that we didn't have whipping cream, or cherry filling...  He was pretty bummed out.  To make it up to him, I whipped it up tonite... even after having to work late, and a pretty stressful day at work.  What can I say... my boy is worth it!  :)  Nice little treat to suprise him when he's back from the library tonite.

YUM!

 

The Finished Product

  

Mmm... Chocolate batter....

  

Ready to go in the oven... (You can tell it was a long day because I used disposable pans... Haha!  No chance I was hauling out my regular pans and doing dishes...)  

 

There is nothing more heavenly than fresh homemade real whip cream....  

 

Mmmm... my heart melts with this... Jon won't eat the cake unless it's got the real stuff on it!  :) 

Delish!! 

Stocking Stuffer Yummies!!

So this year, since it will be our first Christmas as husband and wife I really want to go over the top and add all the special touches to the holidays. I was looking for some fun and unique ideas for stocking stuffers! We like to try to keep stocking stuffers cheap, but sentimental and thoughtful. I ofcourse will be making my signature peanut butter homemade fudge, and I may possibly try my hand at some mocha almond biscotti again. (I burnt my last batch, and it was less mocha and more mush-a-mush.) A good friend of mine also recommended this blog to me, http://bakerella.blogspot.com/2008/12/its-beginning-to-look-lot-like.html. I plan on making these raindeer cake pops, and cannot wait to see how they turn out!! I am also going to try the recipe for red velvet cake balls covered in Chocolate!! I am sure this will be a huge hit for the inlaws, and I'll have to save a few for the family back home! :)