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How was your weekend? Mine was very productive and exhausting.
I picked up A from the airport on Saturday around 6am. He was in California all week and I was more than ready for him to be back home. Because his body was still functioning on PST, we went home and took a nap with the pup. Then we went on with our day like normal and took the pup to the beach for some exercise.
Sunday was our say to get shiz done! I woke up before A and made some coffee then sat down to squeeze in some work. I was also able to make our weekly menu and grocery list. When A rolled out of bed, we got to work - cut countertops for a kitchen facelift we are working on, cleaned up the basement from painting cabinet faces for said kitchen facelift, donated some items to Habitat for Humanity Restore, and went grocery shopping. We also picked up some vibrant flowers to fill our front porch planters. Spring has officially sprung and I am ready for all. the. color.
After the day was complete, it was time to start meal prepping. I made a huge batch of pasta salad to go along with protein wraps for lunch. While the pasta was boiling, I thought I'd make some rice krispies treats. But because I am in the spring mood, I threw in a bunch of freeze dried fruit in hopes of creating a fruit platter bar.
Click to tweet: Tart freeze dried fruit w/ sweet marshmallows & crispy toasted rice cereal.
IT WAS A SUCCESS! The bars are delicious and tart and sweet and light and everything you want in a spring dessert. I had several bags of freeze dried fruit in my pantry and I used every single one - grapes, strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, pineapple, and peach. If that variety of fruit doesn't make a killer fruit platter, I don't know what does.
Fruit Platter Bars (aka freeze dried fruit krispies treats)
Prep time: 5 minutes
Yield: 15 squares
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons Butter
- 40 large Marshmallows
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- 1 cup Freeze Dried Fruit (variety of your favorites), save a handful to top bars
- 6 cups Toasted Rice Cereal
- In a large microwave safe bowl, melt butter on high for 20 seconds at a time.
- Once butter is melted, add marshmallows and microwave high for 1 minute 30 seconds.
- Remove from microwave and mix in vanilla. Microwave for another 30 seconds.
- Remove mixture from microwave and mix in freeze dried fruit and toasted rice cereal.
- Once completely mixed, press into a 13x9 platter or jelly pan.
- Top with a handful of freeze dried fruit.
- Allow to set for at least 1 hour. Cut into squares. Enjoy!
My first bite of these fruit platter bars was pure heaven. The freeze dried fruit rehydrated a bit with the melted marshmallows. The tartness of the fruit is a good pair with the sweet marshmallow and the toasted rice cereal remains crispy. And if you are not sure where to find a good variety of freeze dried fruit, I got all of mine from Target.
Stay tuned this week for a week full of bite-size, finger food snacks. It's going to be a FUN week!
What did you do this weekend?
Have you ever had freeze dried fruit? What's your favorite?
Are you a fan of rice krispies treats?
