Loaded Apple Nachos

Okay. Let's be honest. I took a perfectly good-for-you food item and made it kinda unhealthy. Yep. I sure did. But, sometimes it's okay to be naughty in the name of fun.

It was Valentine's Day Eve and my kiddos had already finished dinner. We were finishing up homework and getting everyone's V-Day classroom cards around. I knew I had a big basket of apples on the counter and had remembered seeing apple nachos online somewhere not too long ago.

In about five minutes, I had these nachos on the table for them to snack on. Had I been thinking straight, I would have thought about all of those goodies and treats they'd be getting at school the following day at their Valentine's Day parties. And, I might have just served them up some plain, boring apples slices since their sugar intake was already gonna be soaring through the roof come the following afternoon.

But, I wasn't thinking. {I do that from time to time.} Loaded Apple Nachos they got. They devoured them. And, if I'm being perfectly honest, I kind of used my finger and scooped up the leftover caramel and peanut butter goodness that was left behind on the plate once all of the apples were gone. {Shhh!}

This really isn't much of a recipe. You can top the apples with so many different items per your preference. Add on some nuts. Drizzle on some hot fudge. Once we started digging into these, we went back and added some course salt on top ... it took these over the top. {Highly recommended.}

Below you'll find what I used to whip up this treat that made my kids fall in love with me {or, was it the apple nachos?} the night before Valentine's Day.

Broken Glass Jello

My five-year old was on the snack committee for the Halloween party at school this week.  To ensure that a bunch of kids didn't bring in the same or similar snacks, we were assigned a specific snack to bring.

I have to admit that I was a little disappointed when I read on our paper the words "Finger Jello."

I have never been a huge fan of eating Jello.  And, I had only attempted finger jello once years ago and it was a flop!

I reluctantly threw some boxes of purple and orange jello in the cart at the grocery store the other day (trying to keep with the Halloween theme and all) ... and figured I would just make a "two-colored Halloween layer jello thingy," then cut it into little cubes after it was set up. 

(Yes, that was what I was calling it in my mind ... sounded legit!)

But, I felt like I was copping out by not planning to put much effort into it, so I started looking online a few days before the dreaded "Finger Jello" had to be produced to my daughter's fellow goblins classmates. 

And, looky looky what I came up with! 

Aren't they boo!-tiful! (wink!)  Of course, you can adapt the colors/flavors to fit any holiday or special occasion.

I did have to run back to the store to pick up one additional color (green) and I needed some unflavored gelatin packets.  But, I am way super glad that I went this route and didn't just do regular jello cubes. 

I will mention (before you proceed full-steam ahead to make this) that you need two days (no exceptions) for this to turn out correctly.  The first day is when you'll make the individual flavors/colors of jello in little containers (I did three).  These will need to set up overnight.  The second day is when you will cut the jello into little cubes, place in a large dish and pour over the white mixture.  Then, it will need to set up another time overnight.

Also, please note that only one cup of water per jello packet is called for in this recipe ... do not use the two cups called for on the jello box!  You need the jello very firm.  And, using half of the water amount achieves this!

Now, on to the recipe.  (And, by the way ... this recipe is, also, sometimes called "Mosaic Jello.")