What We Had For Dinner (+ Dessert!!)

Hi guys! I hope you all had wonderful Easters. I'm a little late on this morning's post, because I took today off work and am still on weekend time!

Yupp! Not gonna lie, that extra day sure makes the weekend feel a whoole lot longer. I'll take it, even with the stress dream this morning of sleeping through my alarm on a work day and showing up past noon. 

Note to reader: Turn off your alarm on a Monday that you took off work. Your stress dreams will thank you. 

So I've been really excited to post both of these recipes, but with all of the Easter excitement they got pushed back a bit. No more delays, I give you one of my favorite soups and the incredibly easy recipe for chocolate bark: 

Turkey Sausage-Gnocchi Soup

Ingredients:

1 (4.5 ounce) link hot turkey Italian sausage

I used a veggie-sausage last week to make this vegetarian, just as delicious!

2 cups water

1 (16 ounce) package vacuum-packed gnocchi

I suggest whole wheat, extra health kick.

1 (14 ounce) can fat free low sodium beef broth

Subbed for veggie broth, either will work!

1 (14.5 ounce) can Italian-style stewed tomatoes

I used fire-roasted last week, it gave it a spicy flavor that was soooo good!

1/2 cup grated fresh Parmesan cheese

Directions: 

1. Cut up sausage. Cook in a skillet over medium-high heat, until sausage is browned. 

2. Add 2 cups water and next 3 ingredients to a pan; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer 4 to 5 minutes, or until gnocchi float to the top of the pan. 

3. Ladle soup into bowls, sprinkle evenly with Parmesan cheese. 

And voila! You've got yourself 7 servings of delicious soup, only 182 calories each. Thank you, CookingLight cookbook!

And now for dessert, 

Chocolate Bark

I followed this recipe to make Easter Candy Bark, but you could really add any color and any toppings to make this fit for all occasions!

Ingredients: 

8 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips

I just made it easy and used all 12 ounces in a bag

8 ounces milk chocolate chips

See note above

7 ounces pink candy melts

In all honesty, I just poured some into a bowl and didn't really measure. Seeing a trend?

Any toppings you want!

Oreos, Whopper eggs and Hershey's eggs did it for me!

Directions: 

1. In a microwavable bowl, melt semi-sweet chocolate chips and milk chocolate chips. Pour the melted chocolate onto a large piece or parchment or wax paper. Spread chocolate out into a rectangle shape (doesn't have to be perfect!).

2. Put pink candy melts into a microwavable bowl, and melt. Plop drops on top of the chocolate, and use a knife to swirl. (The recipe linked above gave great picture instructions of this part!). 

3. Place your toppings on top of your chocolate, and let cool for 3+ hours. As for breaking the eggs, I highly recommend putting them in a plastic bag and using a pot or pan to break them (Thanks, Kristi!). And as for cooling, you can place the chocolate in the freezer to speed up the process (Thanks, Kristi!). 

Can you tell that I'm the amateur chef of the house? 

Turns out, even amateurs can make great chocolate bark :)

And finally, before I say goodbye and go enjoy this lovely San Diego day, I want to say a huge thank you to Daisy from Lovely Memories for awarding me the Liebster Blog award. 

She is the best, and I can't wait to spread the Liebster love. In the meantime, go check out her blog (& enjoy her awesome fashion posts) and leave her some love for me. 

Happy Monday!