Monday, April 15, 2013

Quaker Big Chewy Granola Bars, Chocolate Fondue, and a Night of Television

Seth is often found working late nights and weekends.  Sometimes, however, a Saturday bestows on us a bit of serendipity and magnanimously opens itself up with freedom.  When that happens, we run into it and embrace it, in all its weekend glory.

The day quickly fills up.  Some hours are wiled away on errands and chores that had been put off, but others are used for fun - pit stops at the beach, playground time, lunches at a favorite restaurant - to make the most of our time together.

By the time we get home, it is toddler-late, and time to scoop him off to bed.  And toddler bed time means Seth and I get to do “our thing.”

“Our thing” has two components:
            1.  Our television show of the moment
            2.  Food!!

It is our time to watch our shows, or our “stories” as we like to say.  We generally have room in our hearts for one dramatic series at a time.  But there have been so many wonderful love affairs through the years - The Wire, Deadwood, Battlestar Galactica, West Wing, House of Cards, Damages, Breaking Bad, Mad Men... just to name a few.  And in this Netflix era, we can bring up our show of the moment with the click of a Wii remote and binge on back to back episodes.

And while we watch our stories we like a snack.  A snack that doesn’t involve expending a lot of energy, as that attribute has been depleted during the day’s activities.  A snack that will curb our hunger with some whole grain goodness, but a snack that is still delicious.  A snack like Quaker Oat’s Big Chewy Granola Bars.  

We love chocolate chips (seriously, we love them), so we get the Chocolate Chip Big Chewy Granola Bars.  But the snack doesn’t stop there.  We cut the granola bars and put them on a plate with some fruit - bananas (for me, we all know about Seth’s strong aversion to anything banana), strawberries, tangerines.  And a dip.  A chocolate fondue to be exact - one made with coconut milk and a hint of cardamom.  



It has been awhile since we mentioned our love of dipping.  So active! So communal! So fun! And can possibly lead to some intense debates about what the precisely most delicious combination of foods is to combine with the dip.

And while we snack on our granola bar bites and our fruit slices and fondue, we can sit side by side, watching our stories, discussing camera angles and character development, analyzing plot twists and turns, and arguing about the morality of actions that characters have taken.  And life is good.

Quaker is on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest - so follow/like them!

And now that you totally need some of these granola bars in your life right now, you need to know where to find them - look here for product locator and here for more information about the bars.

This post is brought to you by Quaker.  We were financially compensated for this post by Quaker via AOL Media.   

A Chocolate Fondue


Ingredients
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup coconut milk
1/8 teaspoon cardamom
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
pinch fleur de sel

Instructions
In a small pot over low heat, warm the coconut milk.  Take off heat and stir in the chocolate chips.  Once they are melted, stir in the cardamom and vanilla.  Sprinkle fleur de sel on top of the fondue for serving. 

15 comments:

  1. Yes! At last, a fellow Battlestar Galactica fan! :D (The ending broke my heart.)

    I bet the granola bars are fantastic with that fondue! Everything is better with chocolate fondue - so say we all! ;)

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  2. I love that you dip your granola bars in fondue! Adding extra deliciousness to them.

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  3. I never thought about dipping granola bars in chocolate fondue. Where has this idea been all my life? It looks yummy!

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  4. Never thought to dip granola bars into fondue!! Love it!! Fondue is so much fun :)

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  5. Oh, I thought that your show of the moment was Revenge...
    Love your dipped granola, great idea!

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    1. I love Revenge! It just isn't a show that we watch together :)

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  6. Yum! Delicious and healthy way to snack.

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  7. This is such a good idea! If you pop over to my blog I have awarded you the Best Moment Award! http://allthatimeating.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/best-moment-award.html

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    1. thank you so much!! that is so very sweet of you :)

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  8. I find myself re-watching shows I've already seen before on Netflix. Love it!

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  9. This is a glorious idea,Jenn!
    First of all I would have never thought of dipping a granola bar in fondue.
    Love the addition of coconut milk,cardamon and fleur de sel to the Fondue!
    Sounds like a wonderful, relaxed moment, enjoying TV and comfort food.

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  10. Oh, how I love the idea of this chocolate fondue. I mean it has everything: the crunchy granola, the melting chocolate, I'd have the whole pot all to myself.

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  11. You have excellent taste in television shows and don't know the banana aversion, Seth is't the only one! I used to eat Quaker chewy bars all the time!

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  12. I almost licked my laptop screen. This sounds so decadent.

    Marlene
    Click here for Bellevue Cell Phone Repair

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