I swear we were just watching the ball drop at midnight and now Valentine’s Day is next week! Both of my big kids have class parties next week so I’ve been playing around with festive, yet EASY kid-pleasing treats.

These Valentine candy stuffed brownies couldn’t be easier but are so fun and festive! I used a box of brownie mix, two kinds of Valentine candy, a drizzle of pink chocolate, and voila! A perfectly sweet treat!

I stuffed these with Reese’s hearts and peanut butter M&Ms, but feel free to use whatever you like. We are peanut butter fanatics over here!

Valentine Candy Stuffed Brownie Hearts

1 box brownie mix plus ingredients called for on package (usually eggs, oil, and water)
2 cups chocolate candy, chopped (Reese’s, Snickers, Butterfingers, M&Ms, etc.)
1 package white almond bark such as THIS
Red or pink food coloring

1. Preheat oven according to brownie package directions. Line a 9×13 casserole dish with parchment paper and spray with cooking spray.
2. Prepare brownie batter as directed. Once batter is ready, stir in two cups of candy. I did a mixture of chopped Reese’s and M&Ms.
3. Pour batter into prepared baking dish and bake according to package. I baked mine for about 30 minutes. Remove from oven and cool COMPLETELY.
4. Once brownies have cooled, carefully remove entire pan onto a cutting board. The parchment paper should make it easy to remove all the brownies in one big rectangle.
6. Use a cookie cutter to cut out heart shapes. Eat the scraps or crumble on top of ice cream. And drizzle with melted peanut butter.
7. Melt almond bark according to directions. Once melted, squeeze in food coloring until it’s reached your desired shade of red or pink. Drizzle over brownie hearts. Once the almond bark has solidified, enjoy!

The big game is this Sunday! What are your plans? Do you have a party? Order pizza? Head to a sports bar to watch with other fans?

We are huge football fans, but we much prefer college games to NFL. That said, we never miss the Super Bowl. Since the Saints didn’t make the cut, we really don’t have a dog in the fight, but we do love a good party! We’re having a few families over and I’m making a nacho/taco bar with all the fixings. I’m going to have salsa chicken and seasoned ground beef alongside all the toppings you could ever want and let each guest go wild.

Here’s a round up of FIFTY family-friendly recipes to make the big game extra tasty!

DIPS:

1. Restaurant Style Salsa from The Pioneer Woman
2. Pepperoni Pizza Football Cheese Ball (so fun!) from Mom on Timeout
3. Warm “Crack” Dip from Plain Chicken
4. 3-Ingredient Cream Cheese Sausage Dip from Plain Chicken (can you tell I love Stephanie’s stuff?)
5. Greek Seven Layer Dip from Cooking Classy
6. Loaded Cowboy Queso from the Cookie Rookie (holy smokes, looks incredible!)
7. Whipped Garlic Feta Dip from The Cozy Cook
8. Cobb Dip from Lemon Tree Dwelling
9. Philly Cheese Steak Dip from Chef in Training
10. Loaded Baked Potato Dip from Brown Eyed Baker

WINGS/MEATBALLS:

11. Crispy Baked Garlic Parmesan Wings from Joyful Healthy Eats
12. Easy Teriyaki Wings from Lil’ Luna
13. Dr. Pepper Hot Wings (what??!) from The Marvelous Misadventures of a Foodie
14. Slow Cooker Buffalo Chicken Meatballs from Damn Delicious
15. Waikiki Meatballs from Creations by Kara
16. Bacon Bourbon Meatballs from House of Yumm
17. Jamaican Jerk Hot Wings from Food and Wine
18. Easy Sweet and Sour Cocktail Meatballs from Spend with Pennies
19. Extra Crispy Baked Chicken Wings from i Food Blogger
20. Juicy Lucy Cheese Stuffed Meatballs (oh my yum!) from Spend with Pennies

SANDWICHES AND SUCH:

21. French Dip Sliders for a Crowd from Delish
22. Pepperoni Pizza Stuffed Garlic Bread from Host the Toast
23. Easy Meatball Sliders from Home Made Interest
24. Cheesy Hawaiian Sliders with Ham and Pineapple from The Soccer Mom Blog
25. Cheesy Garlic Monkey Bread (yes, please!) from Florida Diary Farmers
26. Homemade Soft Pretzel Bites from Two Peas & Their Pod
27. Green Chile and Artichoke Bread from Yellow Bliss Road
28. Buffalo Chicken Crescent Ring from Pillsbury
29. Easy Pizza Pinwheels from Carlsbad Cravings
30. Ham and Swiss Stromboli from The Girl Who Ate Everything

SWEETS:

31. Chocolate Peanut Butter Footballs from She Wears Many Hats
32. Touchdown Brownies from The Baker Mama
33. Cinnamon Sugar Chex Mix from I Heart Eating (and I heart that blog name!)
34. Chocolate Football Apples from Hip2Save
35. Soft and Chewy M&M Cookies from Six Sisters Stuff
36. Reese’s Poke Cake from Cupcakes & Kale Chips
37. Cake Batter Dip from The Chunky Chef
38. Mini Fruit Pizzas from Penny Pinchin’ Mom (these would be fun for kids to make!)
39. Strawberries and Cream Popsicles from Domestically Blissful
40. Reese’s Fluffernutter Bars from The Soccer Mom Blog

DRINKS:

41. Pineapple Lemonade Punch from The Melrose Family
42. Beer Margaritas from Tammilee Tips (alcoholic)
43. Cherry Bomb Mocktails from Julie’s Eats and Treats
44. Blue Cotton Candy Lemonade from The Food Charlatan
45. Virgin Pina Colada from High Heels & Grills
46. Roy Rogers from Sugar & Soul Co.
47. Tailgate Sipper from Fake Ginger (alcoholic)
48. Super Bowl Slammer from Wine and Glue (alcoholic)
49. Dragon’s Blood Punch from Food Network
50. Cranberry Kiss from Ocean Spray

So what will you be eating on Sunday?