I was sitting in a conference and a thought came to me. Inside my swag bag was chocolate. Chocolate sounded really good during one of the speeches. Then I started thinking about Kinder eggs. And those chocolate surprise eggs with the toys inside.
And then I decided to recreate my own. These chocolate surprise eggs are perfect for Easter or for those days that you want to give the kids a sweet treat.
I promise the conference was amazing. I didn’t just sit there thinking about Kinder eggs the whole time. The words were so inspiring and it was a huge boost for me. I was feeling so burned out and it was inspiring to hear from other women who have gone through so much. I learned so much on how to help my students, but I think I learned just as much on how to help my family and myself.
I was able to have dinner with some of the board members, presenters and keynote speakers for the conference. It was amazing to hear all these women’s stories and to meet another widow who recently lost her husband too. She’s a year older than me and although she lost her husband in a very public way, I lost mine very differently. Mine became an ex and then left me a widow with three children. While her’s played out in the news, mine had to be played out privately and agonizingly in a courtroom.
But our lives are the same now. We are both trying to raise our children. It was fun to swap stories of how we are surviving. She’s on month 4 and I’m on month 5. And we both have piles of dishes, toys strewn all over the floor, and bathrooms that need scrubbing and somehow we look put together while we were there even though we spent almost the whole night on our phones texting and calling our kids. (Her’s because her 13 year old couldn’t get the TV to work, and me because my 13 year old was debating staying at his cousins for the night or not).
I also had the opportunity to have dinner with Kechi Okwuchi.
She sang two beautiful songs.
And then Ashley Hess, who will be on this season of American Idol also sang.
Several speakers spoke and there messages were absolutely inspiring.
I drove home, tired but filled with ideas and ways that I could help my family, myself and my students I work with.
And then this morning it was off to make chocolate surprise toys.
I tried to make some new protein muffins, but they kind of went out of control.
I also spent a little time dreaming and coveting this kitchen.
CHOCOLATE SURPRISE EGGS (ALLERGY FRIENDLY)
- Semi Sweet, Milk Chocolate or Allergy Friendly Chocolate Chips (12 oz bag)–we used Enjoy Life
- Oval or round silicone molds
- Candy or stickers (we found our bunny and chick stickers at Kroger)
- Ziploc bag or piping bag
- Sprinkles
DIRECTIONS:
Melt 8oz of the chocolate. Fill each silicone cup about half way full with melted chocolate than swirl to fill the mold, then flip the mold over and allow excess to drip out.
Once you have finished filling all the cups, place the mold in the freezer. Allow to freeze for at least 20 minutes and repeat the process if necessary if a thicker layer of chocolate is needed.
Melt the remaining 4 oz of chocolate. Place the melted chocolate into a piping bag or Ziploc bag. Snip off the ends of the Ziploc bag. Remove the molds from the freezer and pop them out of the silicone molds. Quickly fill one with candy and a toy, then top it with an empty chocolate shell. pipe chocolate around the center of the mold to seal, then roll in sprinkles. Chocolate will harden quickly.
Chocolate eggs can be stored for up to one week in an airtight container.
Makes up to 12 eggs or circles (depending on size–we used 2 inch molds).
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