Fillers - the good kind

My family is a group of chocoholics. I don't feel right if I don't have a small piece of chocolate in the middle of the day. This gets expensive.

Homemade what-you-have-on-hand chocolate bark



Trader Joe's has wonderful huge blocks of chocolate with your level of desired intensity for a good price. Or, you can even use high quality chips. I can sneak in a bunch of good things in chocolate for my three year old. Raisins, cranberries, walnuts, almonds, dried apricot, banana chips - you name it. And don't stop there - nice adult versions can be made. Here's some faves:

1) Raisins, peanuts, and a little extra vanilla with milk chocolate
2) Cayenne pepper, cinnamon, vanilla, nutmeg, and hazelnuts with dark chocolate
3) Cranberries and slivered almonds (pictured) with white chocolate

Here's what you do: Melt the chocolate in spurts (I do 40 seconds on power level 5) until completely melted. Then throw in as much "filler" into the chocolate you can. The key is to make it mostly filler and use the chocolate for the "glue". Refrigerate for 1/2 hour in a glass dish and then break apart. Easy peesy and way cheaper than regular bark.

The stroganoff was good last night, but it wasn't a keeper so I'm not posting it. There's far better ways to utilize good sirloin tips.