How to prepare to a treat for a party

As most of you know I love to make gifts as in the edible kind for friends, family … heck people that are nice to me may get a special treat.

So I’ve been asked how I do my shopping, plan etc.  So here is how the rat race I call life as a working mom and trying to keep my super cape flying high!

Since working from home we had to cut back on a few things to make it possible.  The first thing I started to do was meal planning, which helps me running around like a chicken w/no head and it helps eliminate many trips to the grocery store which saves money!

First I make my meal plan which I do by searching blogs and a few favorite recipe sites to find what we will be having for that week. I then make my list (I found it’s easier to make it in groups so I can run threw the store faster … two kids + 1mom need I say more), I find any coupons I need and do my weekly shopping trip.

For Holiday seasons I do the same and last year I even found a few low calorie ones to help us keep with our eating healthy.  Safeway is one of my favorite places to shop and try to hit it up a few times a month (the fuel credit of 10 cents off is a good bonus).

Working in marketing for years I am extra observant of placement of items, and things that catch my eye or even more catch the boys eyes that we MUST have (as you’ll see the ice cream in our cart, caught Caden’s eye .. ok maybe mom’s too).  We love to do things for each season/holiday so we’ll usually pick up what ever promotional thing is on sale to make as a family.

I’ve found Safeway to be comparable on my baking products, like any store you have to watch because some may be cheaper elsewhere but that is where coupons and planning your trip comes in handy.

As mentioned above and for you who read my blog know I love to bake holiday and heck any time of the year.   Especially during holidays it’s over drive here I like to make SEVERAL different treats.  I like to try different things each year and throw in the some of the same staples like peanut brittle and caramels.  Baking is a joy to me and bring something special and maybe unexpected to someone brings a smile to my face.

On this last trip to Safeway I picked up the makings for some holiday fudge, some cookie mix for the molasses cookies and some puff pastry to make some apple pies.  The fudge was a new recipe I thought I’d try and the molasses cookies have Box tops which I collect for Cole’s school (and you all know how competitive I am with that).

Now for the fun part the pictures and the recipe!  You get to see my helper Caden and my shopping cart where we then moved to come home and make the treats.  THEN quickly pack them up and give to the neighbor so mom doesn’t eat it all!

Things I found you need to do for this recipe:

I used a Silicone pan, if you use aluminum foil DON'T use the cheap kind it sticks.  ALSO do the chocolate in 1 min increments it can burn (Remember my picture of burnt chocolate it stinks and you waste it) and don't put vanilla in early it changes the properties & won't come out right.

My task was to find Christmas baking items, but sadly my store only had Halloween up.  So I decided that my Christmas Fudge would be easy to make with what I found in the baking isle.

“This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias.  Feel free to add any additional wording you would like such as “all opinions are my own”