Valentine's Day Puppy Chow

Hey all! I'm STILL in the process of editing the tamale blog... it's driving me crazy... So in the mean time, I thought I would come out with a few blog posts about treats to make for VALENTINE'S DAY :)

This first post is really simple, but I felt like I needed to hurry up and get something on this baby! We've had visitors here for four out of the last five weeks, and I have yet to get the house back to normal. But regardless, I won't neglect you any longer, here is a recipe for some Valentine's Day Puppy Chow!

A few simple ingredients, and you have yourself a little treat for your loved ones. I'll probably send mine in a few small batches with Will, in his lunch. He'll like that :) Feel free to add more sweets, like heart sprinkles, or chocolate chips. I kept it simple with the pink and red m&m's.

----Valentine's Day Puppy Chow----

4 cups Chex cereal
1 heaping cup white chocolate melts
1/2 tsp shortening (just helps keep the chocolate smooth)
red food coloring
3/4 cup powdered sugar
Valentine's day M&M's (or any other holiday candies)

In a medium microwave safe mixing bowl, put your heaping cup of white chocolate and your 1/2 tsp of shortening. Put your bowl in the microwave on the lowest setting, OR defrost setting for 30 seconds at a time, stirring in between sessions. After 90 seconds, do 15 second increments until your chocolate is smooth. Then stir in as much red food coloring as you want.

 I did three drops thinking it would be plenty, but once the powdered sugar is on these babies, you could barely see my coloring, so I'll say atleast 4 or 5 drops.

Once the chocolate is stirred and smooth, add 4 cups of chex cereal to the bowl, and carefully fold them in, making sure to coat all the cereal evenly.

In a large gallon ziplock bag, add 3/4 cup of powdered sugar. Pour the cereal mixture into the bag, seal it, and carefully shake, making sure you're not crushing all the cereal.

Finally, pour into a bowl, or a clean zipper bag, and add as many pink and red M&M's as your little heart desires :)

THAT'S IT! So easy, right?

I hope y'all try this out, I think it's a tasty alternative to the traditional puppy chow recipe, although I do love my peanut butter ;)

ENJOY! I'll be posting another recipe tomorrow *hopefully!