Chocolate Jack-O'-Lantern Bowls

If you haven’t realized it by now, I cannot get enough of these edible chocolate bowls! This is the third occasion that I’ve made them!

The first time I tried making them was 2 years ago for Chocolate Ice Cream Day. Chocolate bowls + chocolate ice cream sounded like a winning combination to me.

Most recently, I made them for Easter. I added cheesecake inside the bowls and a little lemon curd so they looked like eggs. They were pretty darn cute, if I do say so myself.

And now they’re jack-o’-lanterns in my latest creation!

When you finish making the bowls, you can fill them with anything. I wanted them to look a little spooky, so I decided to use dirt pudding with gummy worms! It made for a delicious 2-in-1 treat!

Before you skip down to the recipe READ HERE: Do not, I repeat, DO NOT dip the balloons in the chocolate while it’s still hot. The balloons will explode, causing a huge mess in your kitchen (been there, done that!).

Let the chocolate cool at least 10 minutes and test the temperature of before dipping them. Add oil if you’re worried about the chocolate stiffening too much.

Chocolate Jack-O-Lanterns
Yield: Makes about 8 to 10 bowls
Ingredients

• Pudding mix
• 2 cups milk
• 20 Oreos, crushed
• 4 ounces Challenge cream cheese
• 1/4 cup Challenge butter
• 1/4 cup powdered sugar
• 12 ounces white chocolate, melted
• Orange food coloring
• Oil, as needed
• Chocolate frosting or melted milk chocolate for decorating

Directions

1. Whisk pudding mix with milk for several minutes until non clubs remain and set aside.
2. Put Oreos into gallon bag and crush until they’re in small pieces
3. Mix together cream cheese, butter, and powdered sugar until smooth. Add in crushed Oreos and mix until combined. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
4. Melt white chocolate until smooth. Add orange food coloring until chocolate reaches desired color of orange.
5. The chocolate may seize up and not mix well when you add the food coloring. That’s okay! Just make it easier to stir by adding a little oil at a time,
6. This is IMPORTANT: Let chocolate cool for about 15 minutes until you dip the balloons. Otherwise, they’ll explode!
7. Dip balloons in chocolate so bottom portion and part of sides are completely covered. Set on baking sheet covered in wax paper and refrigerate for 20 minutes.
8. Pull bowls out of refrigerator and decorate using melted dark chocolate or brown frosting so they look like jack-o-lanterns. Pop balloons and peel them away from inside of egg.
9. Fill bowls with pudding about halfway. Then add the Oreo dessert and gummy worms.
10. Refrigerate until ready to serve. 

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Guaco-tacos

If you could choose only one food to eat for the rest of your life, what would you choose? I always ask people this question, mainly because I’m hoping they’ll ask me the same thing.

If I could only choose one food to eat for the rest of my life, I would choose tacos, and let me tell you why! You see, tacos are very versatile. You can change the shell, the meat, the toppings, etc. There are limitless options.

Also, they’re actually not unhealthy, contrary to what a lot of people believe. They have carbs, protein, and veggies.

I’ve made a lot of taco dishes for my blog over the years (like this taco lasagna), and I’m excited to share another one today.

Let me introduce you to the guaco-taco! It’s essentially a taco in an avocado. But I stopped out the inside of the avocado, made guacamole with it, and added it back to the shells. I then topped it with taco meat, pico de gallo, and cheese. In a weird way, it’s a very similar concept to a twice-baked potato.

You can make the taco meat and veggies ahead of time for this dish, but I recommend waiting to cut into the avocados until you’re ready to serve the meal because avocados generally turn brown quickly.

Guaco-tacos
Yield: Makes 4 tacos (4 avocado halves, 2 whole avocados)
Ingredients

• 1/2 pound ground beef or other meat of your choice
• 1 packet taco seasoning
• 2 avocados
• 1/2 red onion, diced
• 1/2 jalapeño, diced
• 1/4 cup cilantro
• 1 Tablespoon lime juice 
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• Additional toppings of your choice, like cheese, pico de gallo, shredded lettuce, and sour cream

Directions

1. Cook ground beef until it is no longer pink. Mix in taco seasoning, and set aside.
2. Cut open avocados and remove pits. Scoop out avocado flesh into bowl and mash. Gently stir in red onion, jalapeño, cilantro, lime juice and salt.
3. Add mixture back into avocados so they’re filled halfway. You’ll have some left over.
4. Top with taco meat, and your other favorite toppings like cheese, pico de gallo, and sour cream.

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